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The discussion around the use of drones lately has risen out of the revelation that the EPA is using them to surveil cattle ranchers in Nebraska and Iowa to enforce the Clean Water Act (http://news.yahoo.com/epa-drones-spy-farmers-nebraska-iowa-1...).

The recent panic around unmanned surveillance seems odd to me given the excellent quality of imagery from low-orbit satellites that have been around for much longer.



The problem here is that it's 100% certain that this technology is going to be used for 24/7 surveillance in major cities. It's guaranteed. It's a giant leap forward in surveillance.


It's about the ease and cost of use.

Not every local police dept. is going to have on-demand access to a LEO satellite for tracking purposes. These bulky UAVs are the tip of the iceberg. What happens when police can have $20 robotic hummingbirds with 300ft audio/visual range?

The past 40 years have shown the government will always do their best to breach privacy rights to meet their (sometimes noble) ends. Their passion needs to be countered by privacy protections, sad as it may seem.

I don't know about this bill (haven't read it), but something like this needs to come along to protect the people from the government.




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