Watchdog Group Sues FAA For Records On Domestic Drone Use

A digital rights and civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding that they release information on who is authorized to operate drones within the United States.

I’ve been curious about this myself. Drones can do a lot more than kill brown people in far off lands…they can also eavesdrop electronic transmissions, even voice between people on the street or potentially within buildings. It really would be nice to know just who is using them.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol primarily uses unarmed Predator B drones to patrol the borders — in December it acquired its ninth drone — but Lynch pointed to one recent incident when they used a drone to help local police in North Dakota avoid a standoff with a family of sovereign citizens over some missing cows.

Well, I would hope the drones are unarmed…but I digress….oh wait…

But, as Lynch writes, there are a number of other potential uses for drones — particularly Predator drones — that concern civil liberties groups like the EFF: “Predator drones can eavesdrop on electronic transmissions, and one drone unveiled at DEFCON last year can crack Wi-Fi networks and intercept text messages and cell phone conversations—without the knowledge or help of either the communications provider or the customer. Drones are also designed to carry weapons, and some have suggested that drones carrying weapons such as tasers and bean bag guns could be used domestically.”

I’ll be interested to see where thissuit goes.

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