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Court rebuffs Chula Vista police claims its drone videos are secret

Chula Vista police drones

The continuing evolution of rules and legal interpretations on official drone use in the US took another twist this week with the decision by a California appellate court rebuffing Chula Vista municipal police claims that all videos its UAVs capture on duty are “records of investigations,” and as such protected from public scrutiny.

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New York police drone use skyrockets despite public privacy fears

Disneyland drone

When New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the liberalization of permitting rules for drone operation in the city last July, he predicted it would lead to a growth of aerial services improving residents’ daily lives. One application he didn’t mention is one many New Yorkers are least enamored with: UAV surveillance by the police, which has increased exponentially over the past year.

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France approves police drone response to rioting despite public opposition to UAV surveillance

France police drone

As a reflection of just how strong public sentiment in France remains against police use of drones to monitor people, officials waited well into the nation’s six-straight nights of rioting before giving law enforcement agencies the green light to fly UAVs for security purposes in response to the unrest.

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TSA addresses privacy questions before airport drone deployment

TSA drones airport

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing to begin drone inspections of airports and other transport hubs to assess the security of those facilities, but before doing so has moved to address any public concerns that images or other identifying data will be collected of people who happen to be around areas under surveillance.

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Drone videos capturing banned motocross races spark legal battle

It’s the sort of legal conflict likely to proliferate as the number of UAVs flown by private users continues to multiply. A couple in Massachusetts is threatening “criminal harassment” charges against neighbors who used drones to capture video evidence of continuing motocross races on their property that officials previously ordered to cease.

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We’re not a data company, we just make drones: DJI

dji data privacy

As the backlash against it continues to grow, DJI insists it’s getting even more focused on data privacy. For the last five years, DJI has had a team of 30 devoted entirely to the privacy and data security features of its products. Collectively, this team has contributed more than 300,000 hours to bolster DJI’s apps, servers, chipsets, and firmware, the company says.

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Indian state’s drone surveillance, facial recognition program worries privacy advocates

lucknow safe city project drone surveillance

India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, wants to make its capital city, Lucknow, safer for women. And it wants to do so by establishing a broad-ranging surveillance setup that uses tools such as drones, facial recognition-enabled CCTV cameras, and AI-based video analytics. However, in the absence of robust data privacy laws, critics fear the program will infringe upon the privacy of citizens in a state infamous for communal polarization.

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Franco-UK plan for police drones against illegal Channel crossings nixed over privacy rights concerns

police drones privacy rights

The latest innovation to battle thousands of migrants attempting illegal Channel crossings from northern France to England has been thwarted on legal grounds. Plans to fly police drones detecting and monitoring the organization and launch of illicit passages have been grounded by French laws as violating individual privacy rights.

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Sunbathing mother and daughter feel watched by hovering drone in Auckland backyard

A hovering drone seemed to be spying on a sunbathing mother and daughter in Mt Wellington, New Zealand. Melissa Rays and her daughter Morgaine Halligan were soaking up the sun in their backyard late in the afternoon when the drone showed up. The video footage shows the drone hovering above their house and backyard, seemingly spying on them.


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