Drone USA

Ian Grant
10/8/2014

Drone USA

   Citizens deserve the right to protection and the government has a duty to provide such protection for our safety. We bring in elected officials to make living in the U.S. peaceful for its people but lately there has been a dramatic shift in activities and funding put forth towards domestic safety in the states. One main issue has been the funding and the increasing use of drones for surveillance and other "security" purposes. In the last couple of years, there have been mass movements towards making drones more widespread in the U.S. and many citizens do not believe that these drones are being used for the right purposes. I will discuss how this issue has been progressing lately and go more in depth with public opinion on this matter.

   There are pros and cons to the use of drones. With our current and past experience with war on international terror, between the U.S. and other countries, we have rapidly become more alarmed and defensive for the publics safety.

   The government funds drone programs in the states and efforts to increase drone production and used have become more favorable over the years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows drones to be used inland on a case-by-case basis, largely for public and research use by law enforcement agencies and universities. There has being talk amongst reporters stating that the FAA is making outline plans to allow a more widespread use of these for commercial or private use by 2015. This could mean an increase in state regulation in 2014, bringing new laws balancing security opportunities and privacy concerns that come with heightened drone use. This is where the opposition from the citizens comes into play.

  Efforts have been made by many states to get a head start on government plans that would allow agencies to use drones in the U.S. Laws have been enacted to protect citizen privacy by putting certain restrictions on the use for and authority of drone handlers. :

"In 2013, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Oregon and Tennessee passed similar laws clarifying that police needed a warrant to use information gathered via drones, except during emergencies. And lawmakers might start to consider more complex aspects of the issue, such as how long authorities should hold on to data collected via drones, and what, exactly, they can do with it."

http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-2014-legislative-issues-to-watch.html

The states have finally started to fight back against drone progress but if the FAA has its way there would be drones everywhere and in almost any agency willing to purchase a drone. What worries people the are the agencies that are truthful with the use of there drones. Regulations need to be imposed to make sure agencies are not using drones for unrelated activities. For example, what if the cops are using drones for task and happen to spot unrelated illegal activity in the process. Actions should be taken to make sure the recordings from the drones are not miss used and what actions can be taken to prevent similar mishaps in the future.