OFF THE WIRE
North County Times |
Will retired military drones find home in our skies?
If the Iranians are to be believed, they gained control and brought down the Lockheed-Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone by an "electronic ambush" in a northeast Iranian city about 150 miles from the Afghan border. The aptly dubbed spy plane, "beast of Kandahar," quickly became the bounty of Kasmar.
We also captured one of their less-sophisticated unmanned drones in 2009 as it flew over Combat Outpost Cobra, a primitive Army base 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Such is modern warfare, and San Diego plays a vital role in this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology.
Rancho Bernardo's General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., builds the Predator B UAV used by the U.S. Air Force, Homeland Security, NASA, as well as foreign militaries.
During the Southern California wildfires in October 2007, the Predator B was used extensively to survey the spreading firestorm and deploy firefighters to those areas of highest need.
The U.S. Custom and Border Protection Agency has eight Predator B UAVs patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border. Through use of video, thermal imagery and a lot of top-secret technology, the Predator B is able to locate illegal border crossers and smugglers. Technicians on the ground controlling the UAV pass along the information to waiting border agents who swoop in for the arrest.
Recently, the Predator B aided the capture of some suspected cattle rustlers in North Dakota. Fearful of an armed standoff, the Nelson County Sheriff called in the UAV, which circled a couple of miles overhead, pinpointing the exact location of the oblivious suspects and showing they were unarmed.
Spying on real or imagined enemies in distant lands, assisting first responders during disasters, and securing our borders is one thing, but is using drones to spy on other Americans a possible violation of our right to privacy? Are we speeding down a slippery-slope flight path of security versus privacy?
According to Ryan Calo, director for Privacy and Robotics at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, there is very little in our Constitution, statutes, or case law that would prohibit the use of drones for surveillance within our borders. "Citizens do not generally enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in public, nor even in the portions of their property visible from a public vantage," he says.
True, but that's the frightening part. With two wars winding down, what role will these very expensive military assets play in our society? Who is collecting, analyzing and possibly storing information ---- and for what purpose? Should our laws catch up with our technology?
How much privacy are we willing to give up for our security?
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/chatfield/chatfield-will-retired-military-drones-find-home-in-our-skies/article_f5859381-90cf-55f0-96b9-aabb1f703e69.html#ixzz1hEFM7jLU
We also captured one of their less-sophisticated unmanned drones in 2009 as it flew over Combat Outpost Cobra, a primitive Army base 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Such is modern warfare, and San Diego plays a vital role in this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology.
Rancho Bernardo's General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., builds the Predator B UAV used by the U.S. Air Force, Homeland Security, NASA, as well as foreign militaries.
During the Southern California wildfires in October 2007, the Predator B was used extensively to survey the spreading firestorm and deploy firefighters to those areas of highest need.
The U.S. Custom and Border Protection Agency has eight Predator B UAVs patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border. Through use of video, thermal imagery and a lot of top-secret technology, the Predator B is able to locate illegal border crossers and smugglers. Technicians on the ground controlling the UAV pass along the information to waiting border agents who swoop in for the arrest.
Recently, the Predator B aided the capture of some suspected cattle rustlers in North Dakota. Fearful of an armed standoff, the Nelson County Sheriff called in the UAV, which circled a couple of miles overhead, pinpointing the exact location of the oblivious suspects and showing they were unarmed.
Spying on real or imagined enemies in distant lands, assisting first responders during disasters, and securing our borders is one thing, but is using drones to spy on other Americans a possible violation of our right to privacy? Are we speeding down a slippery-slope flight path of security versus privacy?
According to Ryan Calo, director for Privacy and Robotics at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, there is very little in our Constitution, statutes, or case law that would prohibit the use of drones for surveillance within our borders. "Citizens do not generally enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in public, nor even in the portions of their property visible from a public vantage," he says.
True, but that's the frightening part. With two wars winding down, what role will these very expensive military assets play in our society? Who is collecting, analyzing and possibly storing information ---- and for what purpose? Should our laws catch up with our technology?
How much privacy are we willing to give up for our security?
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/chatfield/chatfield-will-retired-military-drones-find-home-in-our-skies/article_f5859381-90cf-55f0-96b9-aabb1f703e69.html#ixzz1hEFM7jLU