Pierluigi Paganini
March 12, 2016
The US Government has admitted the use of drones for operations of domestic surveillance. The US Military clarified that all the operations were authorized by a regular warrant confirming that no legal violations were found.
The news was revealed by the USA Today that obtained it with a Freedom of Information Act request. A report issued by the Inspector General at US DoD states the that less than 20 missions have been flown by military spy drones on non-military missions between 2006 and 2015.
The inspector general analysis was completed March 20, 2015, but the authorities released it recently.
“The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have been rare and lawful, according to a new report” states the USA Today.
The DoD report revealed the Pentagon established interim guidance in 2006 governing when and whether the drones could be used for domestic surveillance missions.
“The interim policy allowed spy drones to be used for homeland defense purposes in the U.S. and to assist civil authorities.” continues the post.
The policy highlights that any use of military drones for civil authorities had to be approved by the Secretary of Defense or someone delegated by the secretary.
The US government won’t disclose the details of non-military spying missions flown by the drones, anyway it has publicly issued a list of nine operations conducted between 2011 and 2016:
“The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have been rare and lawful, according to a new report” states the USA Today.
The DoD report revealed the Pentagon established interim guidance in 2006 governing when and whether the drones could be used for domestic surveillance missions.
“The interim policy allowed spy drones to be used for homeland defense purposes in the U.S. and to assist civil authorities.” continues the post.
The policy highlights that any use of military drones for civil authorities had to be approved by the Secretary of Defense or someone delegated by the secretary.
The US government won’t disclose the details of non-military spying missions flown by the drones, anyway it has publicly issued a list of nine operations conducted between 2011 and 2016:
The US Military seems to have refused to provide the entire archive related to civic requests for the military drone usage for domestic surveillance.
“The report quoted a military law review article that said “the appetite to use them (spy drones) in the domestic environment to collect airborne imagery continues to grow, as does Congressional and media interest in their deployment.”” continues the USA Today.
Source: USA Today
Let’s close reminding that the domestic surveillance with drones is allowed with the explicit authorization by the defense secretary.
The USA today confirmed that shortly before the DoD Inspector General report was completed, the Pentagon issued a new policy governing the use of spy drones. The policy requires the defense secretary to approve every single domestic surveillance mission relying on drones.
The report states the drones “may not conduct surveillance on U.S. persons” and bans the use of armed drones over the United States.
(Security Affairs – domestic surveillance, drones)
