EYES IN THE SKY: Two experts trade views on regulating drones.

PositionViewpoint essay - Brief article

It can seem sometimes like they're everywhere.

Farmers use them to monitor crops. Investigators across the country rely on them to help reconstruct highway crash scenes. They're vital to emergency response agencies in tracking wildfires and performing search-and-rescue operations.

There's no denying that drones--aka unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS--have become critical to providing government services, and their commercial potential is untapped.

But there are downsides. Few people are unconcerned about the privacy issues associated with drone-mounted cameras hovering over our neighborhoods and public spaces. And many states have passed legislation to regulate or restrict their use. At least 19 of them require law enforcement agencies to get search warrants to use drones for surveillance or conducting a search.

But when it comes to...

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