Seattle PD: When We Fly Drones Over Your House And Take Photos, We’re Not Infringing Your Privacy

Congress passed a bill in February requiring the FAA to open U. S. airspace to drones. The Seattle Police Department, without letting Seattle’s City Council know about it, asked for FAA authorization to operate drones “for situations like crime scene photography, missing person searches, and barricaded person scenarios.” Their request was only revealed after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to reveal the organizations who were seeking authorization.

Sergeant Whitcomb of the Seattle PD insists that “The idea that this is going to be used to infringe on people’s privacy, that is simply not the case.” Perish the thought, dearest Sergeant Whitcomb! Why would anyone be crazy enough to think that it would? The ACLU of Washington is now seeking a binding ordinance that would set usage restrictions and create a review process for how drones are being used. The FAA, on its part, estimates that there may be as many as 30,000 drones in the US by the year 2020. (h/t: EFF)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.