FBI Admits To Using Drones To Spy On Americans
from the feeling-safer? dept
Most people in the US still associate government use of drones with far away places. But they might want to start paying more attention to what’s happening over their own heads. The FBI has now admitted that it uses drones for surveillance purposes domestically. Though FBI director Robert Mueller said that it was done in a “very, very minimal way, very seldom,” this is still the first admission that it has happened. Mueller seemed open to having Congress legislate how it can use drones. Oddly, members of Congress who seem unconcerned about the NSA’s mass dragnet of information, are apparently concerned about domestic drone use:
Dianne Feinstein, who is also chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said the issue of drones worried her far more than telephone and internet surveillance, which she believes are subject to sufficient legal oversight.
I would argue that both are worrying, in large part because the use of both have been secret to the American public until recent revelations. At the very least, these kinds of surveillance deserve a very public debate about whether or not they are appropriate.
Filed Under: domestic surveillance, drones, fbi, robert mueller, surveillance
