Thu, Feb 23, 2012
Civil Liberties Group Calls For Limits On UAV Use By
Government, Law Enforcement
A civil liberties group in Washington, D.C., wants very strict
regulations on the use of UAVs in U.S. airspace. They're not
concerned so much about the safety of pilots who are flying in the
same areas as unpiloted drones, but rather about having their
picture taken.
Quad Copter File Photo
The Center for Democracy and Technology says the FAA should
require companies and government agencies at any level which use a
UAV to provide a "data collection statement" prior to their
deployment. The New York Times reports that, in a blog entry posted
on the group's website in December, the group argues that police
agencies should only be allowed to use the aircraft to gather
information in specific cases, not as general surveillance tools.
They also say that any data collected should be kept for as short a
time as possible. The group says "Drone surveillance, whether it is
carried out by law enforcement or not, raises significant legal and
constitutional issues that deserve serious discussion."
Their contention may be borne out by a recent case that came
before the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court ruled that a
suspects' constitutional right to privacy was violated when police
attached a GPS tracking device to his private vehicle. The court
said that the tracker constituted an illegal search without a
warrant.
But an argument can be made that a camera on a UAV is not very
different from cameras at such places as toll booths that record
the license plate of every car that passes through, or security
cameras that are becoming more and more prevalent. Some
transportation companies use smart cards that can track when the
cardholder rides public transportation. All of that data is
collected and stored.
For its part, the FAA is primarily a safety agency. They are not
expected to delve in to the realm of attempting to regulate what
data can be collected and how it can be used.
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