Don't bother to read this all you leftists:
DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones:
Homeland Security's specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a
civilian is armed. Also specified: "signals interception" and
"direction finding" for electronic surveillance.
by Declan McCullagh C|NET March 2, 2013 11:30 AM PST
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its
Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry
out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried:
identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government
documents show. The documents provide more details about the surveillance
capabilities of the department's unmanned Predator B drones, which are
primarily used to patrol the United States' northern and southern borders but
have been pressed into service on behalf of a growing number of law enforcement
agencies including the FBI, the Secret Service, the Texas Rangers, and local
police. Homeland Security's specifications for its drones, built by San
Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, say they "shall be
capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or
not," meaning carrying a shotgun or rifle. They also specify "signals
interception" technology that can capture communications in the frequency
ranges used by mobile phones, and "direction finding" technology that
can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios. The Electronic
Privacy Information Center obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland
Security's requirements for its drone fleet through the Freedom of Information
Act and published it this week. CNET unearthed an unredacted copy of the
requirements that provides additional information about the aircraft's surveillance
capabilities. Concern about domestic use of drones is growing, with federal
legislation introduced last month that would establish legal safeguards, in
addition to parallel efforts underway from state and local lawmakers. The
Federal Aviation Administration recently said that it will "address
privacy-related data collection" by drones. The prospect of identifying
armed Americans concerns Second Amendment advocates, who say that technology
billed as securing the United States' land and maritime borders should not be
used domestically. Michael Kostelnik, the Homeland Security official who
created the program, told Congress that the drone fleet would be available to
"respond to emergency missions across the country," and a Predator
drone was dispatched to the tiny town of Lakota, N.D., to aid local police in a
dispute that began with reimbursement for feeding six cows. The defendant,
arrested with the help of Predator surveillance, lost a preliminary bid to
dismiss the charges. "I am very concerned that this technology will be
used against law-abiding American firearms owners," says Alan Gottlieb,
founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation.
"This could violate Fourth Amendment rights as well as Second Amendment
rights." Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency declined
to answer questions about whether direction-finding technology is currently in
use on its drone fleet. A representative provided CNET with a statement about
the agency's unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that said signals interception
capability is not currently used:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is not deploying signals interception
capabilities on its UAS fleet. Any potential deployment of such technology in
the future would be implemented in full consideration of civil rights, civil
liberties, and privacy interests and in a manner consistent with the law and
long-standing law enforcement practices. CBP's UAS program is a vital border
security asset. Equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and day-and-night
cameras, the UAS provides real-time images to frontline agents to more
effectively and efficiently secure the nation's borders. As a force multiplier,
the UAS operates for extended periods of time and allows CBP to safely conduct
missions over tough-to-reach terrain. The UAS also provides agents on the
ground with added situational awareness to more safely resolve dangerous
situations.
During his appearance before the House Homeland Security
committee, Kostelnik, a retired Air Force major general who recently left the
agency, testified that the drones' direction-finding ability is part of a set
of "DOD capabilities that are being tested or adopted by CBP to enhance
UAS performance for homeland security." CBP currently has 10 Predator
drones and is considering buying up to 14 more. If the Predator drones were
used only to identify smugglers or illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican and
Canadian borders, or for disaster relief, they might not be especially
controversial. But their use domestically by other government agencies has
become routine enough -- and expensive enough -- that Homeland Security's
inspector general said (PDF) last year that CBP needs to sign agreements
"for reimbursement of expenses incurred fulfilling mission requests."
"The documents clearly evidence that the Department of Homeland Security
is developing drones with signals interception technology and the capability to
identify people on the ground," says Ginger McCall, director of the Open
Government Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "This
allows for invasive surveillance, including potential communications
surveillance, that could run afoul of federal privacy laws." A Homeland
Security official, who did not want to be identified by name, said the drones
are able to identify whether movement on the ground comes from a human or an
animal, but that they do not perform facial recognition. The official also said
that because the unarmed drones have a long anticipated life span, the
department tries to plan ahead for future uses to support its border security
mission, and that aerial surveillance would comply with the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act and other applicable federal laws. The documents
show that CBP specified that the "tracking accuracy should be sufficient
to allow target designation," and the agency notes on its Web site that
its Predator B series is capable of "targeting and weapons delivery"
(the military version carries multiple 100-pound Hellfire missiles). CBP says,
however, that its Predator aircraft are unarmed. Gene Hoffman, a Silicon Valley
entrepreneur who's the chairman of the Calguns Foundation, said CBP "needs
to be very careful with attempts to identify armed individuals in the border
area" when aerial surveillance touches on a constitutional right. "In
the border area of California and Arizona, it may be actively dangerous for the
law-abiding to not carry firearms precisely due to the illegal flow of drugs
and immigrants across the border in those areas," Hoffman says. CBP's
specifications say that signals interception and direction-finding technology
must work from 30MHz to 3GHz in the radio spectrum. That sweeps in the GSM and
CDMA frequencies used by mobile phones, which are in the 300MHz to 2.7GHz
range, as well as many two-way radios. The specifications say: "The system
shall provide automatic and manual DF of multiple signals simultaneously.
Automatic DF should be able to separate out individual communication
links." Automated direction-finding for cell phones has become an
off-the-shelf technology: one company sells a unit that its literature says is
"capable of taking the bearing of every mobile phone active in a
channel." Although CBP's unmanned Predator aircraft are commonly called
drones, they're remotely piloted by FAA-licensed operators on the ground. They
can fly for up to 20 hours and carry a payload of about 500 lbs.!!!!!
I didn't write this... but I just am amazed at how many people are calling out all the wrong that is going on.
Don't argue with a stupid person. They will pull you down to their level... And beat you with experience..."Samuel Langhorne Clemens"
