The United States is poised to integrate commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace and enable government entities to use UAS in a more expedient manner. This policy change, mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, offers new economic, social and scientific opportunities as well as enhanced law enforcement capacity. However, such benefits will be accompanied by concerns over misuse and abuse of the new technologies by criminals and terrorists. Privacy has been the focus of public debate over the more widespread use of UAS. This paper examines a variety of issues related to allowing broad UAS operations in domestic airspace, and puts forth that safety should be the top priority of policy makers in their effort to integrate UAS into the national airspace system.
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