Electronic Frontier Foundation

Watchdog Group Sues FAA For Records On Domestic Drone Use

Jillian Rayfield | January 11, 2012, 10:42AM

A digital rights and civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding that they release information on who is authorized to operate drones within the United States.

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Topics: Department Of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, Drones, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Federal Aviation Administration, Freedom of Information Law, Privacy

Drones

One Nation Under The Drone: The Rising Number Of UAVs In American Skies

Jillian Rayfield | December 22, 2011, 4:45AM

A secret air show in Houston. An unmanned blimp in Utah. A sovereign citizen arrested in North Dakota.

Each of these is just one small part of the bigger story of the proliferation of unmanned aircraft use within the U.S., and each is likely to become smaller still if the FAA goes through with plans to loosen regulations governing domestic use of drones.

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Topics: Customs and Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, Drones, Privacy, UAVs

Blackwater

Blackwater Contractors Want Closed Court During Appeal

Ryan J. Reilly | January 24, 2011, 10:50AM

Defense lawyers for five former Blackwater contractors who allegedly shot into a crowd during an incident in Baghdad's Al Nisur Square in 2007 want the press and the public excluded from oral arguments next month, Politico reports. The former contractors with the controversial firm are fighting to uphold a judge's dismissal of the case against them related to the attack, which left 14 Iraqis dead. The judge ruled the case should be thrown out because of missteps by prosecutors.

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Topics: Blackwater, Freedom of Information Law, Privacy, Xe, Xe Services

Surveillance

Police Tapped Sprint Customer GPS Data 8 Million Times In A Year

Justin Elliott | December 4, 2009, 6:03PM

Under a new system set up by Sprint, law enforcement agencies have gotten GPS data from the company about its wireless customers 8 million times in about a year, raising a host of questions about consumer privacy, transparency, and oversight of how police obtain location data.

What this means -- and what many wireless customers no doubt do not realize -- is that with a few keystrokes, police can determine in real time the location of a cell phone user through automated systems set up by the phone companies.

And while a Sprint spokesman told us customers can shield themselves from surveillance by simply switching off the GPS function of their phones, one expert told TPM that the company and other carriers almost certainly have the power to remotely switch the function back on.

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Topics: Christopher Soghoian, GPS, Global Positioning System, Jeff Fischbach, Kevin Bankston, Paul Taylor, Privacy, Sprint, Surveillance, Telecoms