By Noelle Freidberg
Senior Staff Writer
Recently there has been a push by the government for the use of drones in domestic surveillance, which has caused quite the debate among citizens.
The development of drone technology involves an unmanned aircraft that is guided remotely. This, of course, has raised concerns over whether or not domestic surveillance conducted through the use of drones is a violation of privacy.
The answer is that yes, it can be a violation of the privacy of citizens if it is used incorrectly. However, drone technology also has the power to be a great use to the government in protecting national security.
So what can be done to ensure the government does not misuse drones and infringe upon our rights to privacy? There needs to be strict guidelines put in place to guarantee drone surveillance is only used in situations to protect citizens.
Recently, there has been concern that the government has been using this technology to spy on journalists and activists, but it seems ridiculous to say that since drone surveillance has been used incorrectly it should not be used at all. There are instances when such means of surveillance can actually be a benefit to the public, like if they are used to help prevent terrorism or take down criminals committing identity theft.
As of this January, there has been privacy-protective legislation proposed in 43 states. Most of these laws require what is known as a probable cause warrant before the use of a drone in an investigation. There is a need for more laws of this kind, which restrict the usage of drone surveillance only to situations where it is absolutely necessary to protect the public from potential threats. It is imperative for citizens to stay involved in the support of such legislation.
To learn more about this issue and read a summary on what some of these new laws are proposing, check out this article by Allie Bohm from the American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security/drone-legislation-whats-being-proposed-states.