seattle mayor orders drone programs shut down (Woohoo!)

[Large Sarge]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/02/major-privacy-victory-seattle-mayor-orders-police-not-use-surveillance-drones

[Cebu_4_2]

In a Major Privacy Victory, Seattle Mayor Orders Police to Dismantle Its Drone Program After Protests

In an amazing victory for privacy advocates and drone activists, yesterday, Seattle’s mayor ordered the city's police agency to cease (http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2013/02/07/seattle-mayor-ends-police-drone-efforts) trying use surveillance drones and dismantle its drone program. The police will return the two drones they previously purchased with a Department of Homeland Security grant to the manufacturer.
EFF has been warning of the privacy dangers surveillance drones pose to US citizens for more than a year now. In May of last year, we urged concerned citizens (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/local-governments-have-power-restrict-drone-surveillance-us) to take their complaints to their local governments, given Congress has been slow to act on any privacy legislation. The events of Seattle proves this strategy can work and should serve as a blueprint for local activism across the country.
Back in early 2012, the Seattle city council was told that the Seattle police agency had obtained an authorization to fly drones from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). But they did not find out from the police; they found out from a reporter who called after the council after he saw Seattle’s name on the list obtained by EFF as part of our lawsuit against the FAA (https://www.eff.org/press/releases/who-flying-unmanned-aircraft-us).
City council was understandably not happy, and the police agency was forced to appear (http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2018127748_drones03m.html) before the council and apologize. It then vowed to work (http://mynorthwest.com/11/666679/SPD-insists-drones-wont-be-used-for-spying) with the ACLU of Washington and the FAA to develop guidelines to make sure drones wouldn’t violate Seattle citizens’ privacy. But as long as the guidelines weren’t passed in a binding city ordinance, there’d be no way to enforce them.
After a townhall meeting held by police, in which citizens showed up in droves and angrily denounced (http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019526462_drones26m.html) the city’s plans, some reporters insinuated that city counsel members’ jobs could be on the line if they did not pass strict drone legislation protecting its citizens privacy.
Documents obtained by MuckRock and EFF (https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2012/oct/11/two-seattle-police-drones-sit-unused-department-se/) in October as part of our 2012 drone census showed that the Seattle police were trying to buy two more drones despite the controversy. But that ended yesterday as the Mayor put a stop to the program completely.
Critics of the privacy protests said the participants were exaggerating the capabilities of the Seattle drones, given they would only fly for less than an hour at a time and are much smaller than the Predator drones the military flies overseas and Department of Homeland Security flies at home (https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-demands-answers-about-predator-drone-flights-us).
But while Seattle’s potential drones may not have been able to stay in the air for long, similar drones have already been developed and advertised by drone manufacturers with the capability to stay in the air for hours or days at a time. In fact, Lockheed Martin has been bragging about a drone that weights 13.2 pounds (well within the FAA’s weight limits) that can be recharged by a laser (http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/12/3154543/lockheed-martin-stalker-drone-48-hour-laser-power) on the ground and stay in the air indefinitely (http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/07/18/drones-that-may-fly-indefinitely-can-be-recharged-by-lasers/).
Since the Seattle protests have heated up, similar complaints have been heard at local city counsels and state legislatures across the country. At least thirteen states are now considering legislation (http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/) to restrict drone use to protect privacy, and there are also members of Congress on both sides of the aisle pushing the same (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf) thing.
Here in the Bay Area, we’ve experienced a similar situation. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office tried to sneak through drone funding without a public hearing and told the county board of supervisors it only wanted to use the drone for emergency purposes. Yet in internal documents obtained by EFF and MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2012/oct/19/alameda-county-sheriff-seeks-drone-thermal-imaging/) as part of our 2012 drone census, the Sheriff’s Office said it wanted to use the drone for “suspicious persons” and “large crowd control disurbances.”
When EFF and ACLU held a press conference pointing out this discrepancy, the county backtracked (http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22122536) and is now attempting to write privacy guidelines that could potentially be turned into binding law. We will keep you updated on further developments.
But regardless, it’s important that privacy advocates take the lesson from Seattle and apply it all over the country. This is an important privacy victory, and like we said back in May (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/local-governments-have-power-restrict-drone-surveillance-us), local governments will listen to our concerns, so let’s make our voice heard.

[osoab]

and is now attempting to write privacy guidelines that could potentially be turned into binding law.


Ha!

[BrewTech]

Methinks Mr. Mayor could get very depressed soon.

[Cebu_4_2]

Yes they ride the fence, now it will be legal to use drones, just not for this particular restriction:
thirteen states are now considering legislation (http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/) to restrict drone use

[Serpo]

In fact, Lockheed Martin has been bragging about a drone that weights 13.2 pounds (well within the FAA’s weight limits) that can be recharged by a laser on the ground and stay in the air indefinitely.

[Serpo]

Iran releases images of drone production line
http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20130208/fathi20130208091452310.jpghttp://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20130208/fathi20130208091452310.jpghttp://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20130208/fathi20130208091455817.jpg

The production line of the US ScanEagle drones in Iran
Fri Feb 8, 2013 10:34AM GMT

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'US drones harm peace in Persian Gulf' (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/05/276340/sending-spy-drones-damages-peace-in-pg/)
'Iran to implement US drone technology’ (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/04/276163/iran-to-implement-us-drone-technology/)


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Iran: US hardest case or upset dream? (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/05/276336/iran-us-hardest-case-or-troubled-dream/)



Iran has for the first time (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/08/287909/iran-shows-uav-production-line-images/#) released images of the production line of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which is manufacturing copies of the US ScanEagle drone.


The domestically-manufactured drones have been put into service by the Iranian Armed Forces.

On December 17, 2012, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Iran launched the production line of ScanEagle drones, adding the IRGC Naval and Aerospace Division has been employing the UAVs.

Fadavi announced on December 4 that a US ScanEagle drone had been captured by Iranian forces over the Persian Gulf upon the aircraft’s intrusion into the Iranian airspace.

Iran has already released footage of the captured drone, which has a 10ft (3m) wingspan and is a long-endurance aircraft built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

Iranian experts have successfully decoded data extracted from the unmanned aircraft.

The US is using its fleet of drones in the Persian Gulf for spying operations.

The images were publicized after Iran released decoded video recordings obtained from a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone downed and captured by the Islamic Republic in December 2011.

The recordings have been made by the drone’s underbelly camera, and include views from the area surrounding the Kandahar base, about 420 kilometers from Iran’s eastern borders in Afghanistan, as the drone is about to land.

The US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on December 4, 2011, while flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 km) from the Afghan border.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/08/287909/iran-shows-uav-production-line-images/

[mick silver]

i hope this take off all over this country , stop it before it get going