Go ahead and use drones to track down criminals, to combat illegal immigration or for search-and-rescue missions. But to issue traffic citations?

No way, say Americans.

A recent Monmouth University poll showed there was overwhelming support for using unmanned aircraft in a variety of circumstances, but routine police work was not one of them.

Fewer than a quarter of the 1,708 adults surveyed last week said they would OK the use of drones to issue speeding tickets. Sixty-seven percent said they opposed the idea, and 10% had no opinion. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points (view a PDF here).

Compare that with the approval ratings for other drone applications: illegal immigration (64%), rescue missions (80%) and locating criminals (67%). The poll also indicates that 64% of Americans would be concerned about their privacy if U.S. law enforcement agencies began using drones with high-tech cameras.

Under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which President Barack Obama signed in February, the Federal Aviation Administration is charged with developing a plan ‚Äúfor the safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015.‚ÄĚ

The act is in response to the strict FAA regulations on drone use. It loosens those restrictions, allowing many government agencies to get swifter FAA permission to operate the unmanned aerial vehicles. It also allows any "government public safety agency to operate unmanned aircraft weighing 4.4 pounds or less," if certain criteria are met.

Drone uses vary greatly, according to an FAA document issued in March that outlines how drones will be used in six test ranges.

Not only can their objectives encompass everything from surveillance to searches to air quality testing, they can take many forms. Wingspans range from 6 inches to 240 feet. Weights run the gamut from 4 ounces to 16 tons.

"One thing they have in common is that their numbers and uses are growing dramatically. In the United States alone, approximately 50 companies, universities and government organizations are developing and producing some 155 unmanned aircraft designs,‚ÄĚ according to the FAA.

Outside the U.S., however, there has been widespread opposition to American reliance on drones to take out terrorists. A recent Pew Research Center poll showed that the U.S. was the only country among 20 surveyed that approved of using drones to kill extremist leaders in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

‚ÄúMany drones are designed to carry surveillance equipment, including video cameras, thermal imagers, radar and wireless network ‚Äėsniffers,‚Äô ‚ÄĚ the representatives wrote. ‚ÄúThe surveillance power of drones is amplified when the information from on-board sensors is used in conjunction with facial recognition, behavior analysis, license plate recognition or any other system than can identify and track individuals as they go about their daily lives.‚ÄĚ

The congressmen closed by asking several questions. Among them: How does the FAA grant temporary licenses? Who has been certified in the past? Have any applications been denied, and if so, why? Is the public notified about where the drones are used? Who operates the drones? What data are collected? How does the FAA plan to make its drone use transparent?

The American Civil Liberties union also chimed in last year, saying that as drones become increasingly cheaper, law enforcement would ramp up its use of the technology, according to the December report, ‚ÄúProtecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance: Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft.‚ÄĚ

If the FAA cannot ensure people‚Äôs privacy, Congress should take action, the report demanded.

‚ÄúThe deployment of drone technology domestically could easily lead to police fishing expeditions and invasive, all-encompassing surveillance that would seriously erode the privacy that we have always had as Americans,‚ÄĚ attorney Catherine Crump, one of the report‚Äôs co-authors, said.

In February, as the Senate considered HR 658 (the would-be FAA Modernization and Reform Act), the ACLU warned that Congress was trying to ‚Äúfast-track domestic drone use‚ÄĚ at the expense of Americans‚Äô privacy.

‚ÄúThis 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," wrote senior policy analyst Jay Stanley.

‚ÄúWe don‚Äôt want to wonder, every time we step out our front door, whether some eye in the sky is watching our every move.‚ÄĚ

soundoff(863 Responses)

De

I want to see the cost benefit analysis where this is profitable (including operating costs, training pilot & mech., upkeep, as well as the cost for damages/loss of life if one happens to crash...), and at what point does this become invasion of privacy since it has a camera that is able to zoom in on license plates, and is just as capable of looking into peoples homes/residences. Their are already cameras at lights and intersections at what point does this become "to much". Seriously. Use it to patrol the borders and sea's to keep drug smuggling out and care a little less about some one that is for the most part an upstanding who decides to go crazy and go 5mph over the limit. Give me a break. Find a better use for 4million dollars, like education.

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