The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a case against Texas EquuSearch, a search-and-rescue operation that was told by the FAA that their UAV use was illegal. Texas EquuSearch sued the Federal Aviation Administration, seeking to overturn what the group described as an order it had been sent in February by email prohibiting the nonprofit organization from using UAVs. A three-judge panel dismissed the challenge, but based the dismissal of the case on the fact that the FAA email at the center of the case was not a formal, legally binding order.

The FAA says it is reviewing the decision. In their filing, the Agency said that the challenge should be dismissed because the email in question was a warning, rather than a formal reprimand, therefore not subject to judicial review. "The email represents the opinion of a subordinate agency employee regarding the view that the FAA would be likely to take if confronted [with unauthorized use of a UAV]”, the FAA lawyers said in the court documents.

Lawyers for Texas EquuSearch said that they felt the decision was “helpful,” and that they believe that it clarifies that the organization is not under a FAA directive to not use the technology. The group says they intend to resume UAV flights as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, it was reported by POLITICO July 23 that President Obama intends to issue an executive order directing the federal government to develop UAV privacy regulations.

While many UAV industry insiders felt that privacy regulations were needed, who would be responsible for development of such regulations had yet to be determined. Many thought while the FAA is heading UAV integration, the agency has no experience in the privacy arena, and would therefore be ill-equipped. According to POLITICO, the order will put the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an arm of the Commerce Department, in charge of developing the guidelines. NTIA would bring together companies and consumer groups to hammer out a series of voluntary best practices for UAVs. NTIA has experience with privacy issues in the tech sector. The agency convened meetings to work out industry codes of conduct for mobile apps and is now doing the same for facial recognition technology.