“The NYC police department intends to use drones to monitor Labor Day backyard parties, raising privacy concerns,” writes Slashdot reader jjslash. “Drone usage by U.S. police departments is increasing, with some operating them beyond visual line of sight. TechSpot reports: “If a caller states there’s a large crowd, a large party in a backyard, we’re going to be utilizing our assets to go up and go check on the party,” said assistant NYPD Commissioner Kaz Daughtry at a recent press conference. Naturally, the admission attracted the attention of privacy and civil liberties advocates who questioned if the department’s plans violate existing laws governing surveillance in the area.
In its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS): Impact and use policy from 2021, the NYC police department said drones would not be used in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy without a search warrant, except in exigent circumstances (PDF). Are backyard parties really all that pressing? “Deploying drones in this way is a sci-fi inspired scenario,” said Daniel Schwarz, a technology and privacy strategist with the New York Civil Liberties Union. Schwarz added that it is at variance with the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which “requires the reporting and evaluation of surveillance technologies used by the NYPD.”
