top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Justice Department Inspector General Releases Report on Domestic Drones

by ACLU
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an interim report (see PDF) on September 26 on the department’s use of surveillance drones. The report said that FBI has been using drones with the same privacy rules it uses for manned aircraft.
a1337.pdf_600_.jpg
The OIG recommended that the department consider developing drone-specific policies that take privacy into account, because, “Unlike manned aircraft, UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] can be used in close proximity to a home and, with longer-lasting power systems, may be capable of flying for several hours or even days at a time, raising unique concerns about privacy and the collection of evidence.” The report said the Justice Department agreed to explore creating rules for using drones. The report also said that the FBI’s general counsel had initiated a privacy review of drone use.

Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy & Technology Project had this reaction:

“No agency, including the FBI, should deploy domestic surveillance drones without first having strong privacy guidelines in place. We’re encouraged by the inspector general’s recognition that drones have created a need for privacy policies covering aerial surveillance. We urge the Justice Department to make good on its plans to develop privacy rules that protect Americans from another mass surveillance technology. Congress, however, should pass legislation introduced by Reps. Ted Poe and Zoe Lofgren that requires law enforcement to get judicial approval before deploying drones, and explicitly forbids the arming of these machines.”

The DOJ OIG report is also at:
justice.gov/oig/reports/2013/a1337.pdf

https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/justice-department-inspector-general-releases-report-domestic-drones


https://www.aclu.org/
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network