WASHINGTON -- The Department of Homeland Security has launched a program to "facilitate and accelerate the adoption" of small, unmanned drones by police and other public safety agencies, an effort that an agency official admitted faces "a very big hurdle having to do with privacy." The $4 million Air-based Technologies Program, which will test and evaluate small, unmanned aircraft systems, is designed to be a "middleman" between drone manufacturers and first-responder agencies "before they jump into the pool," said John Appleby, a manager in the DHS Science and Technology Directorate's division of borders and maritime security.
Appleby provided program details to a friendly audience at the Counter Terror Expo here last week. Just days before, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued new rules to streamline licensing for government agencies seeking to operate lightweight drones.
The DHS program "is meant to aid the user community in making informed decisions" about buying drones, said a DHS spokeswoman. She said the department can help law enforcement agencies "better understand what this technology can contribute in areas such as real-time law enforcement operational support; special event response; crime scene situational awareness; border security; fire/wildfire detection; and disaster evaluation and initial response."
Appleby said he hopes to invite vendors to participate in field tests of sensors and other drone capabilities at a military base somewhere in the Southwest this summer. Later this year, the FAA plans separate tests that will focus on how to safely and efficiently integrate unmanned aircraft into the same airspace with piloted airplanes.
It may be a few years before these automated eyes fill the sky, but privacy advocates, lawmakers and civil liberties groups are already worried about potential abuses.
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Poster Comment:
Nothing to see here,move on. It's just our government protecting us from those wascally Muslims by peeking into our back yards and tapping our phone lines. And if they have to start tracking each of us in the near future by tracking our cell phones or even implants under the skin,well,that's a small price to pay to maintain our freedoms,right? It's a good thing the funide Muslims exist,or our government would have to invent them. And we all know how messy something like that can be (Waco,Texas,OKC bombing,KKK/FBI church bombings,etc,etc,etc).
