It's A Bird, It's A Plane....It's A Drone!

The Drone Act, passed in 2012, allows for law enforcement agencies, including local police forces to use unmanned drones for surveillance and evidence gathering. By 2015 there could be thousands of drones roaming the skies for investigations, research or border control. The following is an excerpt from an article on Philly.com; the link to the rest of the piece is found below.

Right now, law enforcement can use drones to survey anything that is visible to the human eye without a warrant, said Amie Stepanovich, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
But drones can be equipped with penetrating technology such as infrared thermal imaging cameras to uncover details that are not visible to the naked human eye.
"It is physically impossible to hide from a drone within the typical home" if the drone is equipped properly, she said. At this point, with the technology being so new, Stepanovich said it is unclear whether such examinations would be considered "searches" under the Fourth Amendment, which would require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant.


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130505_Drones_taking_off.html

For more information about drones and legislation pertaining to them, go to:

http://epic.org/privacy/drones/