Markey and Barton, who co-chair the congressional privacy caucus, sent a letter to the FAA seven months ago demanding to know what privacy protections the agency was putting in place in anticipation of granting approval for commercial groups to fly drones from 2015 onwards.

In its reply (PDF) , the federal agency responded to a question asking whether drone operators had to follow guidelines that address privacy concerns by stating, “The FAA’s primary mission is ensuring safety of the NAS (National AIrspace System).” While acknowledging that there were “privacy concerns related to UAS operations,” the agency did not indicate that it would mandate drone operators to follow any privacy rules.