Oops! Air Force Drones Can Now (Accidentally) Spy On You

Wired:

As long as the Air Force pinky-swears it didn’t mean to, its drone fleet can keep tabs on the movements of Americans, far from the battlefields of Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen. And it can hold data on them for 90 days — studying it to see if the people it accidentally spied upon are actually legitimate targets of domestic surveillance.

Read the whole story at Wired

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Comments

[fred53]

02:27 PM on 05/17/2012

These things are going to make great target practice.

[IfIonlyknew]

08:06 PM on 05/08/2012

No better way to fine tune their weapons than on the people who paid for them.

[zdeedle]

04:53 PM on 05/08/2012

do you feel safer?
this is a direct result of the Patriot Act, and i don't care how FRIGHTENED right wingers get, we need to scale back on the assault on our constitutional rights. seriously, just because they are scared doesn't mean i should have to give up my rights. the founding fathers are spinning in their tombs.

[JoelJT]

05:33 PM on 05/08/2012

All honor to you. Please consicer http://www.bordc.com (I think--could be org.). That's the Bill of Rights Defense Committee web site.

[Harold Saxon]

04:27 PM on 05/08/2012

Welcome to 1984 in 2012.

[justwunderbar]

04:18 PM on 05/08/2012

All I can say is told you so!

[IfIonlyknew]

08:06 PM on 05/08/2012

I said it first....

[simian sez]

04:04 PM on 05/08/2012

What a pleasantly "unexpected" by product.
Coming soon to a police department near you!

[Andrea Blackwell]

03:57 PM on 05/08/2012

I hope they're ready for a a great big yawn.
Neighbors used to watch over each other. Compare the old Victorian homes like grandma's, to the antisocial, fear-based styles we have now.
People used to have homes with big porches to sit, socialize, see and be seen. I believe that awareness carried into the home and people behaved better on both sides of the front door when they were more active in the neighborhood.
My front door had hardly enough room for my E-bay deliveries and the garage was attached. I could be weeks before I'd see a neighbor. Being different, I kind of preferred people knew I was just a Blerd, dragging my cookies home after a long day, just. Like anyone else. The difference was the police escort. *snark* For lack of any other information, it felt a little better to have them know, rather than speculate and make stuff up.
Besides the line of sight visuals, these drones can't do anything NSA, can't pick up if they're so inclined. It also can't do much more than VSat besides let people know they're being seen, just like piloted P-3s....Or the AF version, the EP3, like that one China held for so long. I suspect the mig that hid it was a drone, or the most incompetent pilot EVER. A mig being outmaneuvered by an EP3 is like a Lotus that can't outdo a Winebago! Sure, China showed us a bereaved widow, but it wouldn't be a big surprise

[MIVoter10]

03:34 PM on 05/08/2012

Maybe they can keep an eye on groups of protesters & occupiers and others who have damaged city property in past. Use the video to put them away.

[simian sez]

04:06 PM on 05/08/2012

Probably...We won't hear much about it though, until they come for the gun owners.
Then we'll hear all about the infringement of constitutional rights, I'm sure.

[JoelJT]

05:39 PM on 05/08/2012

I don't know much about anything that's for sure, however, I'm keeping my eye on how Chicago plays out.
Consider, it may be in "their" best interest for us to know what they can do. Our minds will fill in any blanks.

[p mersault]

03:21 PM on 05/08/2012

I guess it's too hard to turn off the camera until the drone gets out over US soil?

[Nation Loused]

03:17 PM on 05/08/2012

Just as always- When Democrates control our government the beaureaus and agencies go nuts.

ie Ruby Ridge, Waco

I feel sorry for law enforcement in the future. This kind of stuff puts them directly in harms way of American citizens and they will recieve little support.

Barack Obama and Congress is changing the relationship between govt and the people.

I will be voting against my Repub incumbent Congressmen and BHO

[p mersault]

03:22 PM on 05/08/2012

You had to go back to Waco? Did you miss the Bush years?

[Nation Loused]

03:31 PM on 05/08/2012

When did the feds sweep houses with SWAT for first contact under Bush?

[simian sez]

04:02 PM on 05/08/2012

I don't know if you missed it or not, but it's the GOP Congress that remains in control of our government.
Just look at the record.

[Nation Loused]

04:25 PM on 05/08/2012

1 I said Congress- This is bipartisan
2 You need to understand that Democrates control the Senate. I am amazed how many of you don't understand that there are two houses in our Congress and Harry Reid and Democrates have the majority in the Senate. Democrates Control 1/2 of Congress and our presidency, so Democrates do still have the majority in Washington

[DrSkepsis]

03:08 PM on 05/08/2012

Why is it again that we're supposed to want a large progressive central government?

[empiresentry]

03:22 PM on 05/08/2012

So that the Eco spies can make sure we are not watering our home grown food in our backyard garden?
Or perhaps if we hang laundry in the backyard to conserve energy and not use the dryers they can report us to the Home Owners Association.
The liberals are anything but liberal, they are all about control down to the nth degree.

[p mersault]

03:25 PM on 05/08/2012

There is nothing about a liberal philosophy that requires denial of civil liberties. The same can be said for conservatism, but there doesn't seem to be much defense of it there either (except perhaps the libertarian wing which amounts to a small fraction of conservatives).

[Hieronymous Hornblat]

04:40 PM on 05/08/2012

I've considered myself a liberal all my life, and I have to agree with you. Some change took place with the election of Obama and the new partisan climate. Liberals and so called progressives will now defend him almost vitriolically, despite his support of perpetual war, racist drug policy and the police/surveillance with its mania of fear. The only thing distinguishing liberals from conservatives these days is their selective "freedoms" , fully backed up by meaningless slogans and the love of a litigate society. Both sides want to legislate morality and give government extensive control over most aspects of our lives.

[deucejuice]

03:06 PM on 05/08/2012

Go ahead and spy all you want. My life is way to boring for me to care.

[Nation Loused]

03:03 PM on 05/08/2012

It's not like they can just detain you on a whim......

Oh yea-They can do that too-- Thank you Barack Obama!

[dui]

03:14 PM on 05/08/2012

Your new Hope&Change and Forward Obama government. When you ask why, they say "Yes We Can"

[Nation Loused]

03:18 PM on 05/08/2012

Correct

[lqw]

02:58 PM on 05/08/2012

Accidentally ? Yeah right !!

[SamKnause]

02:49 PM on 05/08/2012

Accidentally my $$$ !!!!!