Oversight The Use of Drones
Should agencies like the CIA or DoD be able to use drones – outside of warfare – with little or no Presidential oversight?
No person, organization or even government agency should be able to use drones with no (or little) oversight. This is more so the case given that it has been established that although they could be used for a wide range of beneficial and positive missions, drones could also be used for illegal surveillance activities. Further, when used out of a structured framework, they could interfere with other aviation activity, i.e. with regard to airport operations. It should, however, be noted that the greatest concern with regard to CIA or DoD utilization of drones relates to breach of privacy (McNeal, 2014). According to McNeal (2014), there are those who are concerned that without legislative oversight, the government could actively deploy drones and engage in what the author refers to as massive pervasive surveillance. When in their private property, people have a right to be accorded some level of privacy. Steps should be taken to secure this right by requiring government agencies to deploy drones only in those scenarios that are absolutely necessary, i.e. in matters relating to national security. As a matter of fact, Yaacoun, Noura, Salman, and Chehab (2020) are categorical that “there should exist a very strict approach to limit the drones’ ability to gather images and record videos of people and properties without authorized permission” (37). The legislation calling for the banning of all drone use for surveillance in private property, unless a warrant has been obtained is, thus, justified. It should also be noted that as it has been pointed out elsewhere in this text, the utilization of drones (by government agencies or otherwise) without oversight could interfere with the smooth operation of various aviation activities. Indeed, “drone surveillance also implicates public safety issues as the drones operate in airspace that may also be used by commercial and private aircraft” (EPIC, 2020).
References
EPIC (2020). Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Drones. Retrieved from https://epic.org/privacy/drones/#privacy
McNeal, G. (2014). Drones and aerial surveillance: Considerations for legislatures. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/drones-and-aerial-surveillance-considerations-for-legislatures/
Yaacoun, J., Noura, H., Salman, O. & Chehab, A. (2020). Security analysis of drones systems: Attacks, limitations, and recommendations. Internet of Things, 2(4), 31-42.
