Drones are Watching

What have they caught you doing?

[slucey18-blog]

Blurb

A drone is an unmanned aircraft that is guided remotely.  They generally have cameras on them and drones used for war may have weapons on them as well. Drones are cause for concern in America because of potential invasion of privacy. Simple drones with cameras are very easy for any one to get their hands on. The FAA is currently trying to establish fair laws to allow private drone use while restricting usage that would invade the privacy of others.  The other potential invasion of privacy is drone use by the government and law enforcement agencies. This is the more controversial topic that is harder to address.  Should police be able to use drones to assist in arrests? Should they be able to use drone footage to incriminate people in court? Surely we dont want drones constantly watching over us, so where do we draw the line?

[slucey18-blog]

This is a clip from James Bond Skyfall and this is a good example of positive uses for drones.  To capture some of the shots of the bike chase, they had to use drones to catch the zoomed out shots of the rooftops. 

[slucey18-blog]

"I had no clue they were using a drone during the standoff.  What the SWAT team did was definitely illegal".

April 9, 2012 was the first case where drones surveillance was used to aid an arrest in the US.  They used it to verify Rodney Brossart's location and make sure there were no weapons before they moved in to arrest him.  Brossart fought this stating that the use of the drone was illegal. On January 14, 2014 he was sentenced to three years in prison.

[slucey18-blog]

GW Remix

Although this is unrelated to my issue, I will be remixing a generative writing that I did in class.  For class, we had to write about something about ourselves that cant be known just from appearances and wouldn't come up in class.

I absolutely despise clothes shopping. It doesn't matter who I am with, it is dreadful. The origin of this hatred towards shopping was probably started from shopping with my mom. Those 5 hour outings for "back to school" clothes always left me exhausted and cranky. Going from store to store buying new shirts, pants, shorts, and sometimes shoes.  After about two hours I would begin to sit down wherever I could to take a break.  I never understood why, but shopping always drained me physically and mentally.  Walking that much would never bother me that much doing anything else, but while shopping I would lose energy with every step. To be blunt, shopping sucks.

[slucey18-blog]

What are some things that we can do to protect our privacy? #class ask

Some things that we can do to protect our privacy are to just keep in mind that someone might be watching, where ever you are. And when you need true privacy, make sure to close the shades on your windows and to be aware of your surroundings. Beyond that though, we need to fight as a country to establish adequate restrictions on all drone flights. That would give us the peace of mind that would allow us to enjoy what privacy we have left. #class ask

[slucey18-blog]

This photo was taken by a drone. To capture such a stunning photo, you used to have to take a picture from a helicopter, but drones have made this type of photography possible while on the ground. It is also much cheaper to have a drone than to pay for a very expensive helicopter ride every time you want to take a photo from the sky.

[slucey18-blog]

[slucey18-blog]

Interview with Scooter (he wanted me to call him Scooter), a sophomore at Umass Amherst

Me: How would you react if you saw a drone in the sky that you though was recording you?

Scooter: I would probably make a funny face or something like that. 

Me: You wouldn't try to throw anything at it to knock it down?

Scooter: Probably not. (chuckles). Maybe wave at it.

Me: For what purposes would you deem it necessary for government agencies to use drone surveillance?

Scooter: For protection. I dont think they should be able to spy on random people but its the same with following people. If they can get a court ordered warrant on somebody you could use that(drones) to hover around them.

Me: The FAA projects that 30,000 drones will be in the US skies by 2020. How does this make you feel?

Scooter: I dont see a problem with it as long as its regulated by a transparent government.

Me: What restrictions would you place on government use of drones?

Scooter: I wouldn't want them to have weapons. I probably wouldn't want them to blow stuff up. (laughs)

Me: So weapons. (laughs) Those are the only restrictions?

Scooter: Ya.

Me: And for private use? Any restriction on private use of drones?

Scooter: Maybe you should have a background check to get a heavy duty drone. Kind of like guns. Except they don't even do that for guns that well, so...

Me: And you could make your own if you're knowledgeable enough.

Scooter: Maybe there could be a flying permit for recreational use. I think people should be able to use them, like my cousin.  If he wants to watch the Pats with it... (laughs)

Me: Ya, power to him. (laughs) Thank you.

[slucey18-blog]

My Context for Drones

I grew up in a the medium sized town of Easton, which is in Eastern Mass. Although there were neighborhoods in Easton with kids playing in the streets, I lived off of a main road set back a couple hundred yards due to my driveway length surrounded by trees.  We could barely see our neighbors through our trees and we had very few unexpected visitors. We didnt even get any trick or treaters on halloween because our driveway was too long.  Besides our cousins, who lived next door with a path in the woods to their house, we had our fair share of privacy.  I am now studying Electrical Engineering at Umass and hope to go into robotics one day.  This creates quite a dilemma for me, I love my privacy and would hate it if a drone with a camera was hovering over my Easton home, but that is the field that I want to go into.  I chose this blog topic to explore a way to allow some drone use without encroaching on the privacy rights of ordinary citizens nation wide. I have come to the conclusion that drone use is perfectly fine as long as privacy is respected and government, commercial and private use is monitored and reasonable restrictions are in place.

[slucey18-blog]

Surveillance Drones

Surveillance drones or unmanned aerial systems (UASs) raise significant issues for privacy and civil liberties. Drones are capable highly advanced surveillance, and drones already in use by law enforcement can carry various types of equipment including live-feed video cameras, infrared cameras, heat sensors, and radar. Some military versions can stay in air the hours for hours or days at a time, and their high-tech cameras can scan entire cities, or alternatively, zoom in and read a milk carton from 60,000 feet. They can also carry wifi crackers and fake cell phone towers that can determine your location or intercept your texts and phone calls. Drone manufacturers even admit they are made to carry “less lethal” weapons such as tasers or rubber bullets. Thanks to a provision in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, drones use in the United States is set to expand rapidly over the next few years. The Act includes provisions to make the licensing process easier and quicker for law enforcement, and by 2015, commercial entities will also be able to apply for a drone authorization. In January 2012, EFF sued the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the Freedom of Information Act to determine which public and private entities had applied for authorization to fly drones. In response to the lawsuit, the FAA has released lists of the 60 public entities and 12 private drone manufacturers that have sought permission to fly drones in the US. The agency has also released several thousand pages of records related to the entities’ drone license applications. The FAA has yet to provide information on how these drones will be used. EFF has also partnered with MuckRock, the open government organization, to conduct a “drone census” with the goal of determining just that. We have provided an easy-to-use form that ordinary citizens can use to file a public records request with their local police agency to ask what type of surveillance the agency plans to conduct with drones, if any, and what type of privacy protections it is providing its citizens. Privacy law has not kept up with the rapid pace of drone technology, and police may believe they can use drones to spy on citizens with no warrant or legal process whatsoever. Several bills are currently going through Congress, which attempt to provide privacy protections to Americans who may be caught up in drone surveillance. As the numbers of entities authorized to fly drones accelerates in the coming years—the FAA estimates as many as 30,000 drones could be flying in US skies by 2020—EFF will continue to push for transparency in the drone authorization process and work to ensure the privacy of all Americans is protected.

Due to the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, drone use is projected to increase greatly in the future.  The FAA projects 30,000 drones to be in the sky in the US by 2020.  How can we keep our privacy with that many cameras flying above our heads?

[slucey18-blog]

Remix GW 31

I came to college expecting a new found freedom accompanied by a large increase of work.  I expected to have a good amount of free time as well as a few late nights to finish all of my work.  Another expectation I had was that I would be able to go out every Friday and Saturday.  I have learned in my three semesters here, that this is only true for a small percentage of the time.  Most of the time, there is very little free time as the workload and the difficulty of the work increases.  This is usually more noticeable in the later part of each semester.  As the work gets harder, it becomes much harder to stay focused.  This is why most Netflix shows are watched before any major assignment or exam are due.  I have experienced this personally on many occasions.  I think that the scariest part of this habit is my lack of concern for an upcoming test for example.  A couple hours before the exam, while I am studying, I can convince myself that I have time to watch a couple episodes on Netflix way too easily.  Luckily, this hasn't adversely affected my grades much at all, but will I be able to convince myself to continue studying if I genuinely need it?  

[slucey18-blog]

This is a great video that talks about the future of private and commercial use of drones within the American border.  It addresses that the current privacy laws do not encompass the type of surveillance drones are capable of and it talks about restrictions that are being placed on police and other agencies in America to limit their drone use until privacy laws are more formally addressed.

[micdotcom]

A San Diego school district now has an armored truck, because America

This is an MRAP or mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle.

While you’d usually expect to see a vehicle like this in Afghanistan or Iraq, it’s about to become the newest addition to the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), reports NPR. The image above is a mock-up of what the MRAP will look like once it’s outfitted and repainted for SDUSD use. But there’s a problem. 

The community doesn’t want it | Follow micdotcom

[jollydreamexpert-blog]

Alright, I understand that in extremely dangerous shooter situations, an armored vehicle is justified for a police force to have.  But a school district? That would be like UMass buying an armored vehicle to deliver campus pizzas and search for lost Ucards…

[slucey18-blog]

This unwanted armored truck potentially going to this San Diego school district is very similar to the issue of drones across America.  Although drones are much less intimidating than a militarized truck, they are just as capable of encroaching on our rights.  Just like the people of San Diego wouldnt feel safe having something with such excessive force, drones are a tool that will excessively look into our private lives taking away our right to privacy.

[slucey18-blog]

Amherst Town Meeting adopts drone resolution addressing privacy and targeted killing

Amherst approves a two-part resultion addressing the use of drones both in Amherst and abroad.

Locally, in Amherst MA, a town meeting resulted in a drone resolution saying no drone has the right of public transit through private property.  This means that it is now illegal to fly drones above other peoples homes and property, which solves most privacy issues that these drones presented.  This is a great step towards protecting our privacy from this new threat.  

[slucey18-blog]

Domestic Drones

U.S. law enforcement is greatly expanding its use of domestic drones for surveillance. Routine aerial surveillance would profoundly change the character of public life in America. Rules must be put in place to ensure that we can ...

This addresses the issue that drones present and offers a very realistic and reasonable set of restrictions on their usage.  This is a great starting point on how we should address the situation of drone usage.  One of the more important restrictions on these drones is that no weapons should be equipped whatsoever.  A drone with any kind of weapon would not make me feel safer no matter the situation.

[azspot]

[slucey18-blog]

So, for the time being, any drone flight by anyone in the country can be considered “reckless” by the FAA under the NTSB’s latest ruling, meaning that the FAA can fine you $10,000 for flying one anywhere, for any purpose. And the fact that “any device that is used for flight” can be considered an aircraft seems to suggest that even tiny toy aircraft are subject to the FAA’s whim.

Although drones can cause issues with invading the privacy of American’s, this seems a bit dramatic.  I am all for restrictions for drones to protect our privacy, but this is absurd.  The FAA’s definition of aircraft is any device that is used for flight.  They have stated that federal “definitions on their face do not exclude even a ‘model aircraft’ from the meaning of ‘aircraft’”.  They used a technicality that flying a children’s toy in the air is illegal.  They have to make their definition of aircraft a bit more specific and actually address the issue rather than pulling this ridiculous stunt.

[slucey18-blog]

This is a man who values his right to privacy as well as every other American's right to privacy very highly.  Although his methods are a little ridiculous, we should join in his fight by creating restrictions for drones.