State's new drone bill needs some rethinking

We appreciate lawmakers looking out for their constituents by approving privacy restrictions on information gleaned from drones.

But banning access to all personal information obtained by drones appears too far-reaching and unreasonable. Consider how much information is available on social media websites that people share just to connect with friends, family and business contacts. And consider how much information one can gather just by driving by someone's home. Details like wealth, status, hobbies and patriotism can be seen just by looking at someone's front yard.

At the same time, we understand people do have an expectation of privacy in their own homes and are protected under state Constitution.

A new subsection of the drone bill is exhaustive. Forgive us if the following bill excerpt is too long, but we thought it was important to share the bill's fine print.

It defines personal information as all information that "describes, locates, or indexes anything about a person including, but is not limited to his or her Social Security number, driver's license number, agency-issued identification number, student identification number, real or personal property holdings derived from tax returns, and the person's education, financial transactions, medical history, ancestry, religion, political ideology, or criminal or employment record; or intellectual property, trade secrets, proprietary information, or operational information; affords a basis for inferring personal characteristics, such as finger and voice prints, photographs, or things done by or to such person; and the record of the person's presence, registration, or membership in an organization or activity, or admission to an institution; or indexes anything about a person including, but not limited to, his or her activities, behaviors, pursuits, conduct, interests, movements, occupations, or associations."

We ask that Gov. Jay Inslee veto this bill. Lawmakers can take another look at it for revisions during the 2015 Legislative session.

- Editorial Board