New York A 972: Establishes the "protect our privacy (POP) act" to impose limitations on the use of drones for law enforcement purposes

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A00972 Summary:

BILL NOA00972 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS S01096

&nbsp

SPONSORKim

&nbsp

COSPNSRSimon, Taylor, Jackson, Reyes, Raga, Cruz, Moreno

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §52-e, Civ Rts L

&nbsp

Establishes the "protect our privacy (POP) act" to impose limitations on the use of drones for law enforcement purposes; prohibits the use of drones by law enforcement at concerts, protests, demonstrations, or other actions protected by the first amendment.

Go to top A00972 Actions:

BILL NOA00972 

&nbsp

01/08/2025referred to governmental operations

01/07/2026referred to governmental operations

Go to topA00972 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA00972 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA00972 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 972

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 (Prefiled)

 January 8, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. KIM, SIMON, TAYLOR, JACKSON, MAMDANI, REYES,
 RAGA, CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental
 Operations

 AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to imposing limita-
 tions on the use of drones for law enforcement purposes

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "protect
 2 our privacy (POP) act".
 3 § 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 52-e to
 4 read as follows:
 5 § 52-e. Limitations on the use of drones; law enforcement purposes. 1.
 6 The use of drones by a law enforcement agency, or employee thereof, or
 7 for law enforcement purposes, is prohibited, and no warrant may be
 8 sought or issued authorizing such use of drones. It is also prohibited
 9 for law enforcement to enter into an agreement with a private entity or
 10 individual, whether paid or otherwise, to obtain information from
 11 drones.
 12 2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, law enforcement
 13 agencies may use drones for the following purposes:
 14 a. Search and rescue.
 15 b. Examining conditions of dangerous areas after natural disasters.
 16 3. Notwithstanding subdivision two of this section, a law enforcement
 17 agency or employee thereof may not use a drone for documentation,
 18 recording, investigation, or collection of data at concerts, protests,
 19 demonstrations, or other actions protected by the first amendment to the
 20 United States constitution or sections eight and nine of article one of
 21 the New York state constitution, nor may a law enforcement agency or
 22 employee thereof possess or use an armed drone.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD00940-01-5

 A. 972 2

 1 4. Any data obtained from drones pursuant to subdivision two of this
 2 section may not be used for any law enforcement purposes. Furthermore,
 3 any personally identifying information collected from such drones may
 4 not be shared with any federal, state, local, or private entity or indi-
 5 vidual unless such entity or individual agrees to keep such information
 6 confidential. Any individual whose personally identifying data is shared
 7 in violation of this subdivision or in violation of a confidentiality
 8 agreement pursuant to this subdivision shall have a private right of
 9 action against the entity or individual who shares such data.
 10 5. This section shall apply retroactively with respect to law enforce-
 11 ment data collected from using drones equipped with facial recognition
 12 software or using facial recognition on video or images obtained or
 13 created by a drone, including videos or images obtained or created by
 14 drones owned, controlled, or maintained by a private company, a private
 15 individual, or other government agency, and any such data may not be
 16 used in any ongoing investigations or prosecutions and shall be promptly
 17 deleted.
 18 6. Data or information obtained by drones and within the control of
 19 any government agency or in the possession of a private company or indi-
 20 vidual on behalf of any government agency shall be subject to release
 21 under the freedom of information law, provided that all personal identi-
 22 fying information,