Despite
renewed criticism from both parties in Congress that domestic drones pose a
privacy danger to U.S. citizens—and a report from its own Inspector General
recommending to stop buying them—the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has
indicated it wants to more than double its fleet of Predator drones used to fly
surveillance missions inside the United States.
On Tuesday,
California Watch reported that DHS signed a contract that could be worth as much
as $443 million with General Atomics for the purchase up to fourteen additional
Predator drones to fly near the border of Mexico and Canada. Congress would
still need to appropriate the funds, but if they did, DHS' drone fleet would
increase to twenty-four.
While many
people may think the U.S. only flies Predator drones overseas, DHS has already
spent $250 million over the last six years on ten surveillance Predators of its
own. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—a division of DHS—uses the unmanned
drones inside the U.S. to patrol the borders with surveillance equipment like
video cameras, infrared cameras, heat sensors, and radar.
They say the
drones are vital in the fight to stop illegal immigrants, but as EFF reported in
June, the DHS Inspector General issued a report faulting DHS for wasting time,
money, and resources using drones that were ineffective and lacked oversight.
The Inspector General chastised the agency for buying two drones last year
despite knowing these problems and recommended they cease buying them until the
problems could be fixed.
Perhaps worse,
DHS is also flying Predator drone missions on behalf of a diverse group of
local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies for missions beyond
immigration issues. We know they have lent the drones out to the county
sheriff's department in North Dakota and the Texas Rangers, among others, but
unfortunately, we don’t know the full extent DHS lending program. DHS, as is
their custom, is keeping that information secret.
In response,
last month EFF sued DHS under the Freedom of Information Act demanding answers
about how and why it loans out its Predator drones to other law enforcement
agencies across the country. EFF's lawsuit asks for the records and logs of CBP
drone flights conducted in conjunction with other
agencies.
These drones
pose a multitude of privacy concerns to all Americans, as the Congressional
Research Service (Congress’ non-partisan research arm) detailed in this
comprehensive report on domestic drones and the Fourth Amendment. The report
explains drones can be equipped with, among other capabilities, facial
recognition technology, fake cell phone towers to intercept phone calls, texts
and GPS locations, and in a few years, will even be able to see through
walls.
Despite these
concerns, DHS has not publicly issued any privacy rules to make sure drones do
not spy on US residents in border states going about their daily lives. In fact,
at a Congressional hearing on the subject, DHS refused to send anyone to
testify, leading both parties to criticize their absence.
This is even
more troubling given DHS is also leading the push to get local police agencies
to purchase their own drones by handing out $4 million to agencies to
“facilitate and accelerate” their use. The FAA estimates as many as 30,000
drones could be flying over U.S. territory by the end of the
decade.
The booming
drone industry, which has announced a PR campaign in an attempt to tamp down the
public’s privacy concerns, is quick to point out that these police drones—which
cost anywhere from under $100,000 to $1 million—are smaller than Predators and
do not have the same flight time, so police would not be able to surveil
Americans for hours or days at a time like Predator drones could. Yet as the
technology advances rapidly and becomes cheaper every year, smaller drones will
soon be able to fly for an extended time period as well.
For example,
Lockhead Martin has developed a drone that weighs only 13.2 pounds, well within
the FAA’s domestic weight limits, and can be recharged by a laser on the ground,
allowing it remain in the air indefinitely.
Several members
of Congress have commendably introduced bills that would protect the privacy of
Americans and increase transparency surrounding their use. These members, who
voted for increased drone use in February but have recently expressed second
thoughts, should call DHS representatives before Congress to explain their
position. The American people deserve answers about to whom Homeland Security is
loaning its drones, how DHS plans on protecting Americans’ privacy, and why they
even need any more, given they are misusing the drones they already have. Common
Dreams
DT/HJ
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