Tag Archives: drones

Drones and the 4th Amendment


By SB Anderson

For those with an interest in the domestic use of drones, the Congressional Research Service has released a pretty good summary and overview of the various “far-reaching” privacy issues that are emerging. (Get the PDF via FAS.org).

       

“While individuals can expect substantial protections against warrantless government intrusions into their homes, the Fourth Amendment offers less robust restrictions upon government surveillance occurring in public places and perhaps even less in areas immediately outside the home, such as in driveways or backyards,” the report says. “Concomitantly, as technology advances, the contours of what is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment may adjust as people’s expectations of privacy evolve.”

It concludes:

Currently, there is a vast body of Fourth Amendment law that governs the circumstances in which law enforcement must obtain a warrant before conducting surveillance. However, the sheer sophistication of drone technology and the sensors they can carry may remove drones from this traditional Fourth Amendment framework. Beyond the courts and the Constitution, what role should Congress and the President play in regulating the introduction of drones inside the United States? As the integration of drones for domestic surveillance operations quickly accelerates, these questions and others will be posed to the American people and their political leaders

Photo: Illinois National Guard via Medill Reports.

Where the drones are: U.S. military drone locations mapped


By SB Anderson

The research project Public Intelligence has assembled a map and list of dozens of current and planned areas with Department of Defense drone activity, including the type of craft.  ”What exact missions are performed at those locations, however, is not clear,” Danger Room reports. “Some bases might be used as remote cockpits to control the robotic aircraft overseas, some for drone pilot training. Others may also serve as imagery analysis depots.”

Wired notes that 12 of the locations are for “Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, which can be armed.”

Secrecy News, meantime, cites another report that lists 110 potential drone bases, vs. the 88 in the Public Intelligence report. Here’s that DOD report to Congress. (PDF)

In April, the Electronic Frontier Foundation released a similar map of public and private sector drone operations. 

Inspector’s report raps customs and border patrol for unmanned aircraft program


By SB Anderson

An inspector general’s report has determined the $240 million unmanned aircraft program run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection has “not adequately planned resources needed to support its current unmanned aircraft inventory. “

The report from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general found:

  • Inadequate ground resources in place to support the craft.
  • The seven craft have only flown 37% of the projected number of hours — and despite this, two new $18 million aircraft were ordered.
  • A multi-million-dollar maintenance funding shortfall that could lead to curtailed missions.
  • There is no formal process in place for other agency “stakeholders,” such as the FBI and Department of Defense, to request missions on their behalf and does not have agreements on being reimbursed for the costs of those missions. 
The report recommends that an operating plan be developed to cover maintenance, operations and equipment; aircraft purchases should stop until that happens; a system be developed for stakeholders request and coordinations, along with a reimbursement system. 
The agency has nine unmanned craft based across the country. The program “provides command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability to complement crewed aircraft and watercraft, and ground interdiction agents,” according to the report.

One of the unmanned aircraft used by the border patrol. SOURCE: Inspector general’s report.

Link

Domestic drones ‘an imminent threat to privacy,’ petition to FAA warns

Domestic drones are “an imminent threat to the privacy of every U.S. citizen,” the Electronic Privacy Information Center said this week in a petition to the Federa Aviation Administration. The ACLU says it is onboard with the petition as well.

“Google, inc. has already started using drones in other countries to supplement the images for their Street View service. In Hollywood, companies are developing “paparazzi drones” in order to follow and photograph celebrities. Private detectives have also found use for drones to assist with persistent tracking of their targets. Criminals and others may use drones for purposes of stalking and harassment,” the petition says.

“The consequences of increased government surveillance through the use of drones are even more troubling. The ability to link facial recognition capabilities on drone cameras to the FBI’s Next Generation Identification database, the largest collection of biometric data in the world, increases the First Amendment risks for would-­‐be political dissidents. In addition, the use of drones implicates significant Fourth Amendment interests and common law privacy rights.”

The president earlier this month signed legislation requiring that drones ben integrated into commercial airspace.

Link

FAA Bill Speeds Path for More U.S. Drone Flights

(WSJ) “A broad funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration, which was released this week and is expected to win final approval before the middle of February, for the first time establishes specific deadlines designed to speed up the widespread use of unmanned planes, or drones, across the U.S. On Friday, the House passed the package in a 248-169 vote.

“The bill calls for integrating a wide range of so-called unmanned aerial vehicles—operated by both governmental and corporate entities—with commercial and general aviation traffic across the nation’s skies by September 2015.”

Not surprisingly, some see looming civil rights issues over the use of the drones. Said one reader in the online comments section of the story:

“Now law-abiding American citizens are going to find themselves subjected to the same kind of surveillance that we applied to enemy armed forces in the field. This is not only a technology leap but also a dramatic shift in the attitude the government takes toward its own citizens — they are ALL potential enemies and need to be carefully watched. Not a good sign.”