Local Governments Have the Power to Restrict Drone Surveillance in the USTrevor Timm The FAA, in new rules announced on Monday, made the authorization procedure easier, stating they have streamlined the process for public agencieswhich includes local law enforcementto legally operate drones in U.S. skies.We know that dozens of law enforcement agencies already have drones, based on informationfrom EFFs Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over the FAAs initial refusal to release the list of authorizations. And one of the biggest cities with a police department on the list was Seattle. It turned out Seattles city councilwhich oversees the police departmentwas just as surprised as many citizens to see Seattle Police Departments name on the list. The city council learned about the drones through a reporter asking questions related to EFFs lawsuit, not through official channels. After front page stories in the Seattle Times and an official apologyfrom the Seattle police department, Seattle is now the first city to consider privacy safeguards for drone use by law enforcement. The ACLU of Washington has asked the city council to pass a legally binding ordinance detailing what kind of information can be collected, who can collect it, how the information can be used, and how long it can be kept, along with an auditing process to make sure the policies are followed. The Seattle Times agreed. In an editorial written on May 6, the citys largest paper urged city council to adopt usage restrictions, image-retention limits, and regular audits and reviews of drones as a law-enforcement tool. In a similar incident just yesterday, after the Shelby County Tennessee sheriffs officerequested two drones as part of a $400,000 Homeland Security grant, the Shelby county commission questioned the Sheriffs Office on how they would be using the drone and asked them to draw up privacy guidelines. The sheriffs office promptly withdrew its request for drones. But encouragingly, the commission is still pushing the sheriffs office for privacy policies. As the Memphis Daily News reported, several commissioners said they might still pursue setting some guidelines on the use of such surveillance through a memorandum of understanding with the sheriffs office. Responding to an EFF public records request, Miami-Dade County also released information about its drones earlier this week, which it bought using a grant from the Justice Department (DOJ). The FAA itself estimates that there may be as many as 30,000 drones in the US by the year 2020, and with the loosened restrictions coupled with the Department of Homeland Security and DOJ issuing grants for local police forces to buy drones, its imperative that local governments act swiftly to ban surveillance drones outright or institute robust safeguards for their citizens. Americans cannot afford to wait for the FAA or Congress to act. Does your local police department own and operate a drone? Check out our interactive map here to find out. EFF would also like your help. In the coming days, were going to announce a crowd-sourcing campaign aimed at finding out as much information as possible on each law enforcement agencys use of drones and how citizens can voice their concerns to their local governments. Right now, if you have any information on how your local law enforcement plans to use drones, email dronesinfo@eff.org. You can get this information by calling your local police department. And stay tuned for more, as we plan on announcing a detailed campaign soon. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 