Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Program Policy

UAS technologies owned or leased by ECDHSES may only be utilized by the properly trained and credentialed ECDHSES personnel to monitor and assess critical infrastructure and provide emergency incident situational awareness.  This applies to Regional Mutual Aid Requests from neighboring jurisdictions. In the furtherance of the types of operational and training missions that are approved by the Commissioner in connection with statutorily authorized activities.

Authorized UAS operations will involve the capture and collection of photo and video footage and related data that are relevant or incidentals to the UAS mission.  ECDHSES UAS data capture and collection practices will comply with all applicable laws.

Use of UAS Recorded Data

UAS recorded data may be used by ECDHSES personnel only in the performance of their official duties in furtherance of authorized ECDHSES operations and activities.

Dissemination of UAS Recorded Data

UAS-collected information that is not maintained in a system of records covered by the Privacy Act shall not be disseminated outside of the agency unless dissemination is required by law, or fulfills an authorized purpose and complies with agency requirements. 

Except as required by law, UAS recorded data will only be accessible by or disseminated to ECDHSES personnel, other federal, state, and local law enforcement agency officials or other public officials, when such persons or organizations have a need to know and a right to know such information in the performance of their official duties.  ECDHSES may provide an assessment of any UAS recorded data it receives or gathers to any agency, entity, individual or the public when credible information indicates potential imminent danger to life or property.  

ECDHSES will not sell, publish, exchange or disclose for commercial purposes, any of the UAS recorded data it collects or retains.

Retention of UAS Recorded Data

Information collected using UAS that may contain personal identifiable information shall not be retained for more than 180 days unless retention of the information is determined to be necessary to an authorized mission of the retaining agency.  This information shall be maintained in a system of records covered by the Privacy Act, or may be required to be retained for a longer period by any other applicable law or regulation.  UAS recorded data that is deemed relevant and material to the UAS mission or another public safety purpose will be retained in a manner consistent with the General Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York State Governments Records, County of Erie retention schedule.  UAS recorded data that is considered evidence or potential evidence of actual or suspected criminal activity will be retained in accordance with the County of Erie evidence retention policies.

Safeguarding UAS Recorded Data

Data collected during UAS operations will be safeguarded to ensure that it can be accessed only by those authorized personnel having “need-to-know” clearance.  The remote pilot in command (i.e., UAS Operator) shall be responsible for transferring data collected during a UAS mission to a secure hard drive or secure server or cloud service.  Access to UAS files maintained on secure hard drives and/or servers or cloud services shall be restricted to ECDHSES personnel who are responsible for managing and overseeing such data.

Except as required by law, UAS recorded data will only be accessible by or disseminated to ECDHSES personnel, other federal, state, and local law enforcement agency officials, or other public officials, when such persons or organizations have a need to know and a right to know such information in the performance of their official duties.

ECDHSES may provide an assessment of any UAS recorded data it receives or gathers to any agency, entity, individual, or the public when credible information indicates potential imminent danger to life or property.  ECDHSES will not sell, publish, exchange or disclose for commercial purposes any of the UAS recorded data it collects or retains.

Accountability and Enforcement

ECDHSES shall will investigate any reports of members of the public filing complaints regarding ECDHSES UAS operations.  All complaints will be investigated promptly and any necessary corrective action will be taken.

Stipulations on the use of the UAS to support other agencies

Dissemination of UAS Recorded Data

Except as required by law, UAS recorded data will only be accessible by or disseminated to ECDHSES personnel, other federal, state, and local law enforcement agency officials or other public officials, when such persons or organizations have a need to know and a right to know such information in the performance of their official duties.  ECDHSES may provide an assessment of any UAS recorded data it receives or gathers to any agency, entity, individual or the public when credible information indicates potential imminent danger to life or property.  ECDHSES will not sell, publish, exchange or disclose for commercial purposes any of the UAS recorded data it collects or retains.

Public Notice of UAS Operations

ECDHSES will update its website to reflect its current policy on its use of UAS(s) on an on-going basis and will annually provide a general summary of its UAS operations during the previous year.  This will include a brief description of the types and categories of operations conducted provided that such information does not endanger public safety or interfere with public safety operations.

A commitment to review the UAS policy every three years

The ECDHSES Commissioner will provide executive oversight of the UAS program including final approval of plans, policies and procurement decisions.  The UAS Program Coordinator, who shall oversee the development and implementation of plans, policies and procedures related to UAS technologies, will manage UAS operations.  The UAS Privacy Officer (See Section IX) will be responsible for ensuring that ECDHSES complies with all applicable laws related to information collection and the use and dissemination of information.

The UAS Privacy Officer will act as a liaison to citizen and community privacy advocacy groups, respond to public and other inquiries regarding UAS privacy practices, receive and investigate allegations regarding policy violations and report investigative findings to the UAS Program Coordinator and the Commissioner.  This policy will be reviewed and updated every 3 years, if necessary.

ECDHSES will update its website to reflect its current policy on its use of UAS(s) on an ongoing basis and will annually provide a general summary of its UAS operations during the previous year.

This will include a brief description of the types and categories of operations conducted if such information does not endanger public safety or interfere with public safety operations.

"UAS-recorded data will not be collected, disseminated or retained solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the U.S. Constitution, such as the First Amendment’s protections of religion, speech, press, assembly and redress of grievances (i.e., protests, demonstrations).

Collection, use, dissemination or retention of UAS-recorded data should not be based solely on individual characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, or gender), which is a violation of the law."