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| A Photo of an Unmanned Drone |
MSNBC is reporting that the President signed legislation last week instructing the Federal Aviation Administration to allow the private and government use of unmanned drones over American soil. The article goes on to discuss the various intended applications for civilian use, such as how police and firefighters could use the drones to aid in their work. It also speaks of a darker use of the technology, citing the potential for abuse, with such concerns as violation of privacy, and what actions are being done to insure that the operation on the drones is not used in a nefarious manner.
With many fearing the government intruding more into the private lives of citizens, there is pause for concern to the validity of such claims when legislation such as this is passed as it can and is construed as a way to spy upon the populace. With prior bills such as the NDAA and the Patriot Act, this is not a hard conclusion to come by. An article written about two weeks ago by Business Insider goes into more detail about the larger bill involved. This was a provision included in a larger piece of legislation that had been held up in congress since 2007, mainly on labor union issues. The bill involves the upgrading of the air traffic control systems across the country, allowing for increased efficiency and adding to the overall air traffic. The article states that the U.S. accounts for 35% of the world's commercial air traffic and airlines themselves 5% of the economy, and with adding in expected increase due to increased efficiency, this part of the bill can be agreed as a necessary step for our nation, with the economic impact hopefully heading towards the positive. It also describes the path at which the bill passed through congress, though the details given for the overall process are scant, though it names Rep. John Boener and Senator Harry Reid as key players in its passing.
This could very well be a Trojan horse, a maleficent vehicle in which the government may use against its own citizenry. There will now be a network setup, and later another law could change the intended use. This should also stand to help us define what our privacy expectations are in this new century, since now the power to spy upon anyone, anytime, by nearly anyone, is now a plausible reality. What are we willing to endure, all in the name of "security"? I recognize the need of private use in certain areas, such as the police using UAVs to help catch criminals, or firefighters and rescue teams to search for survivors, for this I believe is the actual merited purpose of this law, or at the very least the rouse that was used to sell it. Until it is defined to be used in a certain way, I will always have my reservations, since who will guard the guards themselves?
Remember: Big Brother is Watching
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