Securing America: Domestic Drones & Privacy

While the Obama Administration stands by its use of deadly drones overseas, domestic law enforcement is grappling with just how far they can go in the use of non-lethal drones.

FOX’s Catherine Herridge reports from Washington in our going series on national security:

Securing America.

The FAA has granted 327 licenses and it projects as many as 10,000 licensed systems by 2017.  Advocate Gretchen West:

(West) “It’s really just an extra tool in the tool kit for these first responders to use.”

But critics, like the ACLU’s Jay Stanley, warn of a potential tsunami of drones, a kind of digital Wild West, where the law is easily outpaced by technology.

(Stanley) “There is some case law about aerial surveillance but it’s not necessarily encouraging when it comes to protecting privacy.”

Given the significant privacy issues, the Department of Homeland Security is now setting up a group to study the impact of government UAVs on civil liberties, civil rights, legal and other policy issues.

In Washington, Catherine Herridge, FOX News.