No it's not, there is an FAA guideline about not flying it directly over a person. but in a generally populated area there is no guideline. On top of that, there is significant debate about if that guideline is even enforceable.
Issues Still Unanswered
In the years to come, further rule-making will doubtless address some or all of the following questions, and probably more:
- What constitutes a flight “over people?” Directly overhead, or not?
- Should special regulations cover using drones to gather information about people, as opposed to weather, crops, and so on?
- How should drones be used for emergency situations, such as search and rescue?
- How can drones be used by the various agencies and departments in charge of weather forecasting (NOAA, the Navy, and the National Science Foundation)?
Many additional unanswered questions were raised by the FAA regulations. Will the registration requirement be retroactive? Will it apply to a build-it-yourself drone? Many drones are homemade, and even commercially-purchased ones can be taken apart so that their parts can be swapped out. At what point does the drone become a different drone, needing new registration? How will the FAA enforce the registration requirement?