Calls Use Of The Aircraft A 'Serious Threat To Privacy'

The ACLU raising concerns about the New York Police Department's recently-announced plans to deploy a 14-drone fleet to assist in public safety efforts, calling the plan a "serious threat to privacy."

Writing in the "Speaking Freely" blog on the ACLU website, authors Michael Sisitzky and Simon McCormack say that the organization is "deeply concerned" about what it perceives as shortcomings in the policy despite making some changes based on input offered by the ACLU when it was asked.

Sisitzky and McCormack say the NYPD has a "troubling history of unlawful spying" which makes it "critical that the policies that govern their use put strict limits on when and where they can be deployed." The authors say one of their primary concerns is that the drones will be used to "spy on protesters legally exercising their constitutional rights. The NYPD’s policy does little to quell our concerns."

They also say that the policy is not clear on what would constitute "public safety or emergency situations" in which the NYPD chief of department would be authorized to approve officer's requests to use the drones.

Sisitzky and McCormack write that one bright spot is that the policy does not allow drones to be equipped with facial recognition technology, but it does not prevent such technology to be used in analyzing any still or video images captured by the aircraft.

The ACLU also has concerns about how long the NYPD can keep such images collected by the drones. The organization had recommended no more than 24 hours in all but a few specific cases, but the Department's policy allows such images to be kept for 30 days with extensions allowed in some cases.

The authors conclude that the NYPD policy on drones places "no meaningful restrictions" on their use.

(Image of NYPD drones from file)

FMI: ACLU blog