I can't see anything....
"Privacy issues loom as police use of drones begins to rise; FAA works on simpler rules for flights; Machines can cost less than $50,000" by Peter Finn, Washington Post / January 24, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas — The drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is entering the national airspace: Unmanned aircraft are patrolling the border with Mexico, searching for missing persons over difficult terrain, flying into hurricanes to collect weather data, photographing traffic accident scenes, and tracking the spread of forest fires.
But the operation outside Austin presaged what could prove to be one of the most far-reaching and potentially controversial uses of drones: as a new and relatively cheap surveillance tool in domestic law enforcement....
And all the bloggers who have been screaming this stuff would eventually be turned on the American people are once again proved right.
By 2013, the FAA expects to have formulated new rules that would allow police across the country to fly lightweight, unarmed drones up to 400 feet above the ground routinely — high enough for them to be largely invisible eyes in the sky.
Related: Electric Eye
Such technology could allow police to record the activities of the public below with high-resolution, infrared, and thermalimaging cameras.
One manufacturer advertises one of its small systems as ideal for “urban monitoring.’’
And WHO BENEFIT$?
The military, often a first user of technologies that migrate to civilian life, is about to deploy a system in Afghanistan that will be able to scan an area the size of a small town. And the most sophisticated robotics use artificial intelligence to seek out and record certain kinds of suspicious activity....
Yes, isn't it great that the public pays for such things like the Internet, which is then passed of to private hands for profit-making?
You doing anything suspicious, American?
When drones come to fly in numbers over American communities, they will drive fresh debates about the boundaries of privacy. The sheer power of some of the cameras that can be mounted on them is likely to bring fresh search-and-seizure cases before the courts, and concern about the technology’s potential misuse could unsettle the public....
As if this damn government cared what we think.
Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, manufacturers, and academic institutions are among the other users.
Some police officials, as well as the manufacturers of unmanned aerial systems, have been clamoring for the FAA to allow their rapid deployment by law enforcement.
Thi$ i$ $imilar to the $canners, doncha think?
They tout the technology as a tactical game-changer in situations such as hostage sieges and high-speed chases....
Remember when they told you the traffic cameras were only to catch terrorists -- before they started handing out traffic tickets for violations caught on video?
--more--"
