UPDATE #2 – June 22, 2023
This article on Remote ID from Vic Moss of the Drone Service Providers Alliance reflects on the current state of the Remote ID regulation, and more importantly dispels some of the myths and misinformation about Remote ID.
UPDATE #1:
I’ve included another interview with the FAA’s Kevin Morris from December of 2022. In it he talks about the delay for the manufacturer compliance for Remote ID (from Sept. to Dec. 2022). He also mentions a list at the FAA’s website of drones from numerous manufacturers that have the Remote ID technology built in – this list is known as the Declaration of Compliance, where you can look up a drone you own, or are considering purchasing.
At the time this page was first published, the Remote ID rule has advanced to the drone manufacturers compliance stage. What does this mean?
To avoid any confusion I will quote the FAA website:
Remote ID is the ability of a drone in flight to provide identification and location information that can be received by other parties.
Federal Aviation Administration – UAS Remote Identification & Remote Identification for Drone Pilots
Remote ID helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly. Remote ID also lays the foundation of the safety and security groundwork needed for more complex drone operations.
Some crucial dates for compliance, as of January 2023, are that drone manufacturers needed to be compliant of the Remote ID rule as of December 16, 2022 (it was pushed back from September 16, 2022). Remote pilots must be compliant (meaning their drone will need to have Remote ID working), by September 16, 2023. What this means is if you have registered your drone as part of the commercial drone regulation (known as Part 107), your drone must have a Remote ID system either built-in or added to it.
We will not provide any additional information here as the links to the FAA Remote Identification pages linked above provide the most recent and relevant information. Since dates for compliance have already been pushed back, future compliance dates could, but not necessarily, change.
Again, we want to provide as much official information. Having said that, we are publishing this informational interview with the FAA’s Kevin Morris. The video provides a good overview of what Remote ID is, and lots of technical and legal explanations are provided for clarifications. It also describes the process for how FAA rules related to drones are proposed and then allow for public comments.
Obviously after this video was published, some things have changed (compliance dates for example) and have been clarified (and frankly some things have not). Hopefully, it at least catches you up with the basics.
Photo by Vladislav Smigelski on Unsplash
