Drones Over America: Unblinking Eyes

Imagine walking outside, conscious of the fact that you're being watched- that somebody is keeping tabs on your whereabouts. They can see through walls, roofs, they can find you on the darkest of nights by your heat signal. You aren't doing anything wrong, but the awareness of these constant, and unblinking eyes makes you uneasy. 

What are we reading about here? A science fiction story? The thoughts of a paranoid schizophrenic? No, you are reading about someone who knows that drones are flying overhead.

By 2015 there are going to be thousands of drones over America. These drones can be equipped with: cameras that can watch someone for days at a time, face recognition technology (enabling them to pick you, specifically out of a crowd of hundreds.), Heat sensors (making it easy to find you at night.), and soon, with cameras that can see through walls.

With the passing of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Re-authorization Act, receiving a license to fly a drone in American Airspace will be much easier than it used to be. The Senate passed the bill by a 75-20 margin. It is thought that by 2015 something like 30,000 drones will be flying over America. That's about 600 over each state. Needless to say, civil liberties groups are not at all pleased with the situation.


The American Civil Liberties Union stated, "Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected."

Questions are being raised over whether or not drone "surveillance", is constitutional. If searching a home without a warrant is unconstitutional, then why isn't constant observation without the consent of the observed? It seems a lot like stalking American citizens. 

Harley Geiger, a policy attorney with the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, D.C., told Discovery News, “Right now, under current U.S. laws there are very few restrictions on our ability to take pictures or videos of individuals outside,”

 

“Some of the privacy issues that we see with drones are very different than the sort of surveillance that can be conducted with a helicopter. Drones can quietly watch an entire town without refueling. It can conduct a pervasive and secret surveillance that helicopters cannot match,” Geiger stated. 

 

If you walk onto someones property, then you are clearly trespassing, and can be prosecuted for it. But if you fly a drone (or UAV) over someone's property, are you working within the confines of the law? It's hard to tell what is and isn't legal when it comes to drones. The Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reports a complaint it received from a resident in the Miller Park neighborhood. She wrote:

"This afternoon, a stranger set an aerial drone into flight over my yard and beside my house near Miller Playfield. I initially mistook its noisy buzzing for a weed-whacker on this warm spring day. After several minutes, I looked out my third-story window to see a drone hovering a few feet away. My husband went to talk to the man on the sidewalk outside our home who was operating the drone with a remote control, to ask him to not fly his drone near our home. The man insisted that it is legal for him to fly an aerial drone over our yard and adjacent to our windows. He noted that the drone has a camera, which transmits images he viewed through a set of glasses. He purported to be doing "research". We are extremely concerned, as he could very easily be a criminal who plans to break into our house or a peeping-tom."

It is difficult for experts to determine whether or not this man's actions are illegal. While most people agree that this situation is "odd" and "creepy", it isn't necessarily a crime. It all comes down to fine details, like what kind of drone was being used, and whether or not photos were taken of the homes interior or inhabitants. But what people seem to be saying is that it would be very difficult to take legal action against this man. 

Can you imagine how unsafe and violated you would feel if you found out that someone was doing this to you, without your knowledge? It would seem a tall brick wall won't be enough to ensure privacy from your neighbors anymore. But with drones becoming commercially available to civilians, what can you do ensure privacy? board-up your windows? That may not be enough. It seems the general public will have little recourse when these eyes-in-the-sky decide to stalk us.

There are countless ways that drones can be used to end privacy and stalk citizens, and few laws to protect us. What can we do to protect ourselves, in case these drones are implemented in unconstitutional ways?

At this point, nothing. Let us hope that at the very least these pesky and pervasive devices are confined by the law, so as to be implemented in only the most appropriate of situations. It's hard to understand what a normal person might want with a devise who's primary use has been spying and assassinations overseas. But apparently our Government has found many ways for these drones to make themselves useful on American soil. The impact of this remains to be seen.

 

By 2015 Drones will be the new American"normal"