New Documents Reveal U.S. Marshals’ Drones Experiment, Underscoring Need for Government Transparency

[kpete]

Source: ACLU

New Documents Reveal U.S. Marshals’ Drones Experiment, Underscoring Need for Government Transparency

By Naomi Gilens, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 8:12am
The use of surveillance drones is growing rapidly in the United States, but we know little about how the federal government employs this new technology. Now, new information obtained by the ACLU shows for the first time that the U.S. Marshals Service has experimented with using drones for domestic surveillance.

We learned this through documents we released today, received in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents are available here. (We also released a short log of drone accidents from the Federal Aviation Administration as well as accident reports and other documents from the U.S. Air Force.) This revelation comes a week after a bipartisan bill to protect Americans’ privacy from domestic drones was introduced in the House.

Although the Marshals Service told us it found 30 pages about its drones program in response to our FOIA request, it turned over only two of those pages—and even they were heavily redacted.

Here’s what we know from the two short paragraphs of text we were able to see. Under a header entitled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Man-Portable (UAV) Program,” an agency document overview begins:

USMS Technical Operations Group's UAV Program provides a highly portable, rapidly deployable overhead collection device that will provide a multi-role surveillance platform to assist in [redacted] detection of targets.

Read more: http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security-criminal-law-reform/new-documents-reveal-us-marshals

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ACLU Uncovers U.S. Marshal's Drone Project
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2013/2/27/145927/043

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Lint Head]

2. Watch the movie

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Old version. It is prophetic.

[kpete]

3. MORE

Another document reads:

This developmental program is designed to provide (redacted) in support of TOG (presumably the agency’s Technical Operations Group) investigations and operations. This surveillance solution can be deployed during (multiple redactions)to support ongoing tactical operations.

http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security-criminal-law-reform/new-documents-reveal-us-marshals

[midnight]

4. K&R

[AnotherMcIntosh]

5. "to assist in detection of TARGETS" (emphasis added) -- That's one way to use them.

[Occulus]

6. I'm sure Americans on American soil ARE called "targets"

That is one problem.

Using the term "targets" to describe American citizens on American soil is a deeper and more troubling piece of information.

[lovuian]

7. "targets" it is troubling it is dehumanizing

and it is scary

[cstanleytech]

10. "suspects", "targets" whatever in the end as long as the drones used for this remain unarmed is it

really a major concern? I personally dont believe so.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

11. Now I wonder what the police call those who they seek to surpress from speaking out at Occupy

events.

And what the TSA agents call the members of the flying public.

[msanthrope]

9. I think it's pretty specific--the Marshals now do sex offenders, and these persons are generally

described as 'targets' of the National Sex Offender Targeting Center, as opposed to 'fugitives.'

[msanthrope]

8. They maintain the National Sex Offender TARGETING Center. So, yeah, I suspect they call those

persons 'targets.'

Personally, I don't have a problem with them searching for non-complaint sex offenders.