Look, Up In The Sky! It's A Drone, Looking At You!!

Agent_286 · Dec 6, 2011

Look, Up In The Sky! It's A Drone, Looking At You

by Brian Naylor | npr | December 5, 2011

Unmanned aircraft - or drones - are playing a large role in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, but they're starting to show up the the skies above the U.S. as well. Drones are already used to patrol the border with Mexico and now they may soon be coming to a police department near you.

Just consider a video on drone manufacturer AeroVironment's website: Police officers chase a suspect to his home. The suspect runs behind the house, out of sight. The officers open the trunk of their patrol car and pull out what looks like a toy model aircraft with four rotors and a video camera. They launch the aircraft, which allows them to monitor their suspect's movements through a video feed on an iPad-like tablet and, ultimately, to apprehend him.

AeroVironment calls its unmanned aircraft the Qube, and while it may look like something kids would look for under the Christmas tree, it's no toy.
"The Qube is the first solution that AeroVironment has introduced specifically targeting what we identify as the public safety market, and that's really public safety professionals like law enforcement, search and rescue, and first responders," says company vice president Steve Gitlin.

Drones - or unmanned vehicles - have been a success with the military, and companies such as AeroVironment hope to make them an increasingly common sight in this country. Gitlin says the Qube costs just a bit more than a police patrol car, making it a much less expensive alternative to a manned helicopter.

"At about 2 pounds, the safety risks to people on the ground are rather minimal," he says. "In fact it weighs less than your common Canadian goose."

While law enforcement is a big market for makers of unmanned aircraft systems - known as UAS's - there are many other potential civilian users such as monitoring pipe lines, oil spills, fires, weather and floods.

But all those unmanned aircraft have some people a little wary. Privacy advocate Harley Geiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology says drones are basically flying video cameras.

"Drones can easily be equipped with facial recognition cameras, infrared cameras or open Wi-Fi sniffers," Geiger says. "So when people think about drones they shouldn't just think that a telephoto lens is the only feature that can raise a privacy issue."

Nor, says Geiger, is it only law enforcement that could be watching: The paparazzi, your homeowners' association, your neighbor, a journalist can all sic drones on you as well. "

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/05/143144146/drone-technology-finding-its-way-to-american-skies
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While the Qube has the ability to furnish mankind with beneficial information on nationwide events, the concept should be closely watched to see that Americans' privacy is not interfered with.

The media is so aggressive in looking for information, they would ne among the first to buy a Qube, giving celebrities, suspected criminals, public officials, our president, and others undr a surveillance that would greatly hamper their privacy to go to the grocer, a nightclub, or to a party and who they leave with.

I am thinking I might buy a Qube to monitor my b/f, but then I might find out something that I really would rather not know. On the other hand, my b/f may already have ordered one to monitor me, so I guess I will have to shoot my heat seeking device up in the air each day as I leave for work to totally destroy any Qube that is searching for my stuff.

waltky · Jul 21, 2012

Granny says if dey send one o' dem helicopter drones to peek inna window when she takin' a shower - she liable to shoot it outta the air...

FAA Has Authorized 106 Government Entities to Fly Domestic Drones
July 20, 2012 - Since Jan. 1 of this year, according to congressional testimony presented Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized 106 federal, state and local government entities to fly unmanned aircraft systems, also known as drones, within U.S. airspace.

We are now on the edge of a new horizon: using unmanned aerial systems within the homeland, House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Michael McCaul (R.-Texas) said as he introduced the testimony. Currently, said McCaul, there are about 200 active Certificates of Authorization issued by the Federal Aviation Administration to over 100 different entities, such as law enforcement departments and academic institutions, to fly drones domestically. At his panels Thursday hearing, McCaul showed a map of the United States with markers indicating the locations where--as of April--government entities had been approved by the FAA to fly drones. The number of recipients since that time has increased, McCaul noted.

GAO testified that the FAAs long-term goal is to permit drones to operate in U.S. airspace to the greatest extent possible. The proliferation of domestic drones, GAO said, raises a number of issues, the first of which is the right to privacy. First is privacy as it relates to the collection and use of surveillance data, Gerald L. Dillingham, GAOs director of Physical Infrastructure Issues told the House Homeland Subcommittee on Oversight on Thursday.

Members of Congress, civil liberties organizations and civilians have expressed concerns that the potential increased use of UAS in the national airspace by law enforcement or for commercial purposes has potential privacy implications, said Dillingham. Currently, no federal agency has specific statutory responsibility to regulate privacy matters relating to UAS. Stakeholders have told us that by developing guidelines for the appropriate use of UASs ahead of widespread proliferation could in fact preclude abuses of the technology and negative public perceptions of the potential uses that are planned for these aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration authorizes military and non-military (academic institutions; federal, state, and local governments including law enforcement entities; and private sector entities) UAS operations on a limited basis after conducting a case-by-case safety review, Dillingham said. Only federal, state, and local government agencies can apply for a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA); private sector entities must apply for special airworthiness certificates in the experimental category, Dillingham said. Between January 1, 2012 and July 17, 2012, said Dillingham, FAA had issued 201 COAs to 106 federal, state and local government entities across the United States, including law enforcement entities as well as academic institutions.

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High anxiety on the Hill about civilian drone use
Thursday, July 19, 2012 - When it comes to drones, the DHS is MIA, lawmakers said Thursday.

Members of Congress from both parties fear that the Department of Homeland Security hasnt crafted adequate security protocols for the looming explosion of private, domestic drone use. Witnesses, including a University of Texas professor who hijacked a drone last month, told the House Homeland Security subcommittee on oversight, investigations and management that, with the proper equipment and expertise, its relatively easy to jam drones GPS signals and take control of them. Drones, also called unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs, are currently used only by the military and law enforcement agencies.

But they will be available for commercial and personal use beginning in 2015, and critics say the federal government isnt considering how dangerous they could be in the wrong hands. We are on the edge of a new horizon, said Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican and subcommittee chairman. The Department of Homeland Securitys mission is to protect the homeland. It should not take a 9/11-style attack by a terrorist organization to cause DHS to develop guidance on the security implications of domestic drones. The Federal Aviation Administration will be responsible for issuing drone permits, and will monitor UAVs in the sky in much the same way it does now for traditional planes and helicopters.

A Homeland Security spokesman Thursday referred all drone questions to the FAA, and would not say why the department turned down Mr. McCauls invitation to appear before his panel Thursday. The panel did not hear from any representatives from the FAA. Mr. McCaul said the risks drones pose to U.S. citizens and infrastructure is clear. In September, Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old Massachusetts man, was accused by federal authorities of planning to attack the Capitol building and the Pentagon with UAVs packed with explosives.

The FBI foiled the plan, but analysts say the federal government should expect similar attacks in the future. In 2015, analysts say, it will be easy for anyone with enough cash to buy a drone and potentially turn it into a weapon. But the risk doesnt stop there, said Todd Humphreys, the University of Texas at Austin scholar who last month, along with several of his graduate students, hijacked a surveillance drone to demonstrate holes in their security systems.

More http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/19/high-anxiety-on-the-hill-about-civilian-drone-use/
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waltky · Aug 18, 2012

Here's lookin' at ya...

Police chiefs adopt code of conduct for drone use
Thursday, August 16, 2012 - The nation’s police chiefs have adopted a code of conduct for their use of drones, including letting any images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, be open to inspection by the public, and that the images not be stored unless they are evidence of a crime or part of an ongoing investigation.

The chiefs also said that if they plan to fly drones over an area where they are likely to spot criminal activity and where they would be intruding on someone’s “reasonable expectations of privacy,” they should seek to get a search warrant first.

In their three-page document, the chiefs said they are aware of privacy issues that have arisen with the prospect of an explosion in both governmental and private use of drone technology.

“Privacy concerns are an issue that must be dealt with effectively if a law enforcement agency expects the public to support the use of UAV by their police,” the chiefs said.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the industry trade group, applauded the new rules, saying they struck a good balance.

Here are the eight operational rules the chiefs recommended:
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Stepped-up computer monitoring of federal workers worries privacy advocates
August 16`12 - When the Food and Drug Administration started spying on a group of agency scientists, it installed monitoring software on their laptop computers to capture their communications.

The software, sold by SpectorSoft of Vero Beach, Fla., could do more than vacuum up the scientists’ e-mails as they complained to lawmakers and others about medical devices they thought were dangerous. It could be programmed to intercept a tweet or Facebook post. It could snap screen shots of their computers. It could even track an employee’s keystrokes, retrieve files from hard drives or search for keywords. “Every activity, in complete detail,” SpectorSoft’s Web site says about its best-selling product, Spector 360, which the company says it has sold to dozens of federal agencies.

Government workers have long known their bosses can look over their shoulder to monitor their computer activity. But now, prompted by the WikiLeaks scandal and concerns over unauthorized disclosures, the government is secretly capturing a far richer, more granular picture of their communications, in real time. Federal workers’ personal computers are also increasingly seen as fair game, experts said.

Nonintelligence agencies spent $5.6 billion in fiscal 2011 to safeguard their classified information with hardware, software, personnel and other methods, up from $4.7 billion in fiscal 2010, according to the Information Security Oversight Office. Although only a portion of the money — the amount is not specified — was spent on monitoring for insider threats, industry experts say virtually every arm of the government conducts some form of sophisticated electronic monitoring. “It used to be, to get all of an agency’s records out you needed a truck,” said Jason Radgowsky, director of information security and privacy for District-based Tantus Technologies, which evaluates monitoring systems for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Export-Import Bank and the National Institutes of Health. “Now you can put everything on a little USB thumb drive.”

The stepped-up monitoring is raising red flags for privacy advocates, who have cited the potential for abuse. Among other concerns, they say they are alarmed that the government has monitored federal workers — including the FDA scientists, starting in 2010 — when they use Gmail, Yahoo or other personal e-mail accounts on government computers. Although the FDA has said it acted out of concern that the scientists were improperly sharing trade secrets, the scientists have argued in a lawsuit that they were targeted because they were blowing the whistle on what they thought had been an unethical review process. At least two other agencies, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Maritime Commission, are under congressional scrutiny for seeking and using employee monitoring software that critics say is intrusive.

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Zosiasmom · Aug 18, 2012

They are easily hacked and easy to DIY. This drone thing was not well thought through by government.

DonGlock26 · Aug 18, 2012

Didn't Obama assassinate an American citizen with a drone?

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Zosiasmom · Aug 18, 2012

DonGlock26 said: ↑

Didn't Obama assassinate an American citizen with a drone?

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Yes, without due process. They have an assassination list, don't you know?

ColoradoGirl · Aug 18, 2012

Drones are a clear use of military against US citizens. Oh that's right the government doesn't give a crap about the Constitution...There is no way in hell private companies should be allowed to use these. No matter what side you are on, you should be stumping mad about this.

Zosiasmom · Aug 18, 2012

ColoradoGirl said: ↑

Drones are a clear use of military against US citizens. Oh that's right the government doesn't give a crap about the Constitution...There is no way in hell private companies should be allowed to use these. No matter what side you are on, you should be stumping mad about this.
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Obviously not mad enough since we continue to elect people that think this is okay.

Stuart Wolfe · Aug 18, 2012

Zosiasmom said: ↑

Obviously not mad enough since we continue to elect people that think this is okay.
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Well, don't worry about it, no one will ever hack into those things and start spying on people with them! Trust me!

Oh by the way Zosiasmom, the keys you're looking for? You left them on top of the fridge.

Ivan88 · Aug 18, 2012

Since the passage of the Talmudic Noahide laws in 1991, you don't have any rights. So the head Rabbi et al. can spy on you any time he wants.

The America that the Founding Fathers sought is long gone. Its a shame. But a nation of deluded people don't deserve the "Pursuit of Happiness and property."

Third Eyientist · Aug 18, 2012

I was at a stop light here in Cocoa Beach the other day and I saw one hovering and seemed to be checking out traffic. The beach is only a couple hundred feet away. I bet the the drone handlers are checking out the chics in bikinis with high res lenses to say the least...

mikezila · Aug 18, 2012

Third Eyientist said: ↑

I was at a stop light here in Cocoa Beach the other day and I saw one hovering and seemed to be checking out traffic. The beach is only a couple hundred feet away. I bet the the drone handlers are checking out the chics in bikinis with high res lenses to say the least...
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what would you do?

mikezila · Aug 18, 2012

Third Eyientist said: ↑

I was at a stop light here in Cocoa Beach the other day and I saw one hovering and seemed to be checking out traffic. The beach is only a couple hundred feet away. I bet the the drone handlers are checking out the chics in bikinis with high res lenses to say the least...
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what would you do?

Rapunzel · Aug 18, 2012

Totalitarianism and tyranny

Third Eyientist · Aug 18, 2012

mikezila said: ↑

what would you do?
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Exactly....

Dispondent · Aug 18, 2012

Agent posting something not from huffpo???? Holy crap!

I'm starting to wonder what's the difference, drones in the sky or drones in the government? We need to end both...

Rapunzel · Aug 18, 2012

Dispondent said: ↑

Agent posting something not from huffpo???? Holy crap!

I'm starting to wonder what's the difference, drones in the sky or drones in the government? We need to end both...
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Big brother is watching and will continue...it ain't going away...say goodbye to liberty and freedom.

waltky · Mar 6, 2013

Like mebbe Waco or Ruby Ridge?...

Holder: Drone strike against Americans in the U.S. possible
March 5th, 2013 - Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday stopped short of entirely ruling out a drone strike against an American citizen on U.S. soilwithout trial.

Holders comment came in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul. Paul had sent a letter to President Obamas CIA director nominee John Brennan asking for the administrations views on the presidents power to authorize lethal force.

In the letter, Holder said It is possible I suppose to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. In a separate letter, Brennan told Paul that the CIA has no such authority.

The nomination passed its first hurdle Tuesday with the Senate intelligence committee voting to approve the nomination in a 12-3 vote. Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said he voted against the nomination because of inconsistencies in Brennan's testimony.

Earlier in the day, the White House agreed to provide legal documents written by Justice Department officials explaining the legal rationale for targeting Americans overseas who are involved in terror-related activities that threatened America or American interests.

Source
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After Protracted Questioning: Holder Admits It's Unconstitutional for Gov't to Kill U.S. Citizen Sitting Peacefully in U.S. in Cafe
March 6, 2013 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. Constitution does not allow the targeted drone killing of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil who does not pose an imminent threat to life or bodily harm.

Let me be clear. Translate my appropriate to no. I thought I was saying no. Alright? No, Holder said after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked him six times whether hypothetically it was constitutional for the U.S. to use a drone to kill a U.S. citizen sitting in a café in the U.S. who does not pose an immediate threat. If an individual is sitting quietly at a café in the United States, in your legal judgment, does the Constitution allow a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil to be killed by a drone? Cruz (R-Texas) asked Holder.

For sitting in a café and having a cup of coffee? Holder asked. If that individual is not posing an imminent and immediate threat of death or bodily harm, does the U.S. Constitution allow a drone to kill that individual? Cruz asked. On the basis of what you said, I dont think you can arrest that person, Holder said.

The person is suspected to be a terrorist. You have abundant evidence hes a terrorist. Hes involved in terrorist plots, but at the moment, hes not pointing a bazooka at the Pentagon. He is sitting in a café overseas. The United States government uses drones to take out individuals when theyre walking down a pathway, when theyre sitting in a café, Cruz said. If a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil is not posing an immediate threat to life or bodily harm, does the Constitution allow a drone to kill that citizen? Cruz asked.

I would not think that that would be an appropriate use of any kind of lethal force. We would deal with that in the way that we typically deal with a situation like that, Holder said before Cruz cut him off. With all respect, General Holder, my question wasnt about appropriateness or prosecutorial discretion. It was a simple legal question. Does the Constitution allow a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil who doesnt pose an imminent threat to be killed by the U.S. government? Cruz asked again.

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exotix · Mar 6, 2013

Mac-7 · Mar 6, 2013

exotix said: ↑

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I see the libs are getting their money's worth out of Photoshop.

AceFrehley · Mar 6, 2013

Stuart Wolfe said: ↑

Well, don't worry about it, no one will ever hack into those things and start spying on people with them! Trust me!

Oh by the way Zosiasmom, the keys you're looking for? You left them on top of the fridge.
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Why did you let that gun in her purse go by with no comment?

indago · Mar 6, 2013

Did anyone here see the camera drone covering some of the plays at the SuperBowl? Awesome!

waltky · Mar 20, 2013

Granny says, "Dat's right - the better to spy on terrorists with...

Coming soon to a sky near you: a Pentagon-backed "bat drone"
March 19, 2013 It's not quite the Batplane. But a new Pentagon-backed autonomous "bat drone" that can use a long claw to pluck objects off of the ground is ready for deployment.

Earlier this week, California drone developer MLB Company announced that it had completed a project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop a specialized "V-Bat" unmanned aircraft. Kitted out with high-res cameras and laser sensors, the drone is designed to be used for everything from urban surveillance to wildlife monitoring. It can take off vertically and hover steadily, and it can also fly like a normal winged aircraft at heights of up to 15,000 feet for 10 hours at a time.

The V-Bat is able to fly pre-programmed missions using GPS navigation and the DARPA version can search for objects on the ground, which it can pick up with a 6-foot extending claw. Last year, DARPA said in a press release that the V-Bat technology "paves the way for precise long-range delivery of small payloads into difficult-to-reach environments." It is another example of how the U.S. military has invested heavily in developing new drone technology, from stealth unmanned aircraft capable of flying pre-programmed missions to 1.8 billion gigapixel drone cameras.

But the V-Bat isn't only intended for military applications. MLB Co. is selling the drones for about $320,000 each and is marketing them for a host of purposes like agricultural mapping and border patrol. With the FAA working to open up U.S. airspace to drones by September 2015, it might not be long until you see a V-Bat in American skies.

Source
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indago · Mar 22, 2013

indago said: ↑

Did anyone here see the camera drone covering some of the plays at the SuperBowl? Awesome!
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Nobody saw "the camera drone covering some of the plays at the SuperBowl?"

waltky · Jun 22, 2013

Granny gonna use dem drones fer skeet shootin' practice...

Drones being used in US for surveillance, says FBI chief
Thursday 20th June, 2013 WASHINGTON The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been using drones to conduct secret surveillance on US citizens, the agency chief disclosed to a house panel.

FBI Director Robert Mueller made the disclosure to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in response to questions from senators who wanted to know more about the federal government's increasing use of unmanned aircraft. Mueller was asked whether his agency is considering buying drones and if so, how it's planning on using them. Mueller replied that the FBI already uses drones to conduct surveillance, surprising many of the lawmakers.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa then said, "I think I can assume since you do use drones that the FBI has developed a set of policies and procedures and operational limits on the use of drones and whether or not [they have] any privacy impact on American citizens." "We are in the initial stages of doing that," Mueller replied. Absorbing this information, Senator Grassley wanted to know whether the FBI uses drones "for surveillance on US soil." "Yes," was Mueller's reply.

Mueller then explained that drones are used "in a very, very minimal way and very seldom." At the moment, the "footprint" for the drones is "very small," he added. "We have very few and [they are] of limited use, and we're exploring not only the use but also the necessary guidelines for that use." What, precisely, are those guidelines? Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of California wanted to know. Mueller failed to give clear answers to this. "It's generally used in a particular incident, were you to need that capability," he said. "I will have to go back and check in terms of what we keep in terms of images and the like."

Mueller did not go into detail, but the FBI later released a statement that said unmanned aircraft were used only to watch stationary subjects and to avoid serious risks to law enforcement agents. The Federal Aviation Administration approves each use, the statement said. The FBI used a drone during a hostage-taking in Alabama this year after a gunman, Jimmy Lee Dykes, snatched a boy off a school bus and held him in an underground bunker, according to the statement. The U.S. government has made no secret of its use of drones to monitor the United States border with Mexico.

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