Actually, for the new EU regulations, you need to broadcast both the position of the drone and of the operator, at least for everything above class C1 ("remote ID", see [1]).
And in any case, drones without working GPS are not fun to fly. DJI's Mini 3 Pro (and its larger friends) can do by using the collision-avoidance stereo cameras, but others I wouldn't dare risk running indoors.
It's hard to find any information about how Remote-ID is supposed to work, but in theory the ID packets are sent by WiFi NAN and Bluetooth so that they can be received by anyone in the radio range (which is quite important for authorities to track down violators, e.g. people flying around hospital helipads). Unfortunately, current phones seem to lack support hardware-wise (see [1], page 6).
[1] https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/Events/Webinars/...
The FAA hasn't specified an implementation. It's on the manufacturer to come up with a means of compliance, and then get the FAA to sign off on it. There is a standard put out by the ASTM, which is heavily based on an open source project, OpenDroneID.
The standard moved away from NAN in the draft phase, in favor of vendor elements in 802.11 beacon frames. You can choose 802.11 or Bluetooth Low Energy. If you choose 802.11, 2.4ghz is required and 5ghz is recommended. If you choose BLE, v4 is required, and doing v5 as well is recommended.
no, it is not. it is yet another power grab by the FAA and federal authorities to increase the surveillance state.
I should not be required to broadcast my signal to the federal government to prove I am not going to commit a crime, that is the exact backwards of how the legal system is suppose to work
You're participating in airspace, and if you want to participate in airspace you have to comply with the rules for participation to not endanger others.
In ye olde times, you had to do a pilot exam, and planes and choppers were/are expensive and had to transmit ADS-B information both for air traffic security and for keeping track of abuse. If you were caught abusing your privileges, you lost your license.
Why should drones be exempt of these rules, particularly as they are mass-market things (unlike airplanes) and thus the chance of them getting abused is far higher?
Further this assume that I agreed with the "ye olde times" regulations, I dont. I largely disagree with all federal regulations for a multitude of reasons even going to the very basic that no where in the US Constitution is the FAA an authorized role of the federal government, at most it should be a state law not a federal law
Been meaning to research how to independently flash the drone's firmware offline to wipe collected data, but haven't delved into that yet. Any suggestions welcomed!