Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The Atlantic | Who Has the Right to Fly a Drone Above Your Head? While the government’s use of drones in other countries has drawn scrutiny, there are plenty of drones flying in American skies on behalf of the military, law enforcement, universities, and local governments. Just how many drones are zipping around is not clear, but thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s  Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Transportation, at least we now know which government agencies can fly drones. There are 58 institutions in total, including both active and expired “certificates of authorization” from the Federal Aviation Administration. They range from DARPA to the city of Herrington, Kansas to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. The individual list is interesting, but we thought the aggregated pie chart above made it easier to take in the data at a glance. Perhaps most interesting is how many universities have applied for permits. Some may be working with military grant money. There are relatively few law enforcement agencies using drones, maybe because of the expense involved. Only 11 local law enforcement districts have tried out the technology: Arlington PD, Gadsden PD, Georgia Tech PD, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Miami-Dade PD, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Ogden  Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Seattle PD. Keep in mind, as the EFF points out, the number of certificates are not equal to the number of drones. So the military may have many, many drones flying while a city government might just have one. Read more.

The Atlantic | Who Has the Right to Fly a Drone Above Your Head?

While the government’s use of drones in other countries has drawn scrutiny, there are plenty of drones flying in American skies on behalf of the military, law enforcement, universities, and local governments. 

Just how many drones are zipping around is not clear, but thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s  Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Transportation, at least we now know which government agencies can fly drones. There are 58 institutions in total, including both active and expired “certificates of authorization” from the Federal Aviation Administration. They range from DARPA to the city of Herrington, Kansas to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. The individual list is interesting, but we thought the aggregated pie chart above made it easier to take in the data at a glance. 

Perhaps most interesting is how many universities have applied for permits. Some may be working with military grant money. There are relatively few law enforcement agencies using drones, maybe because of the expense involved. Only 11 local law enforcement districts have tried out the technology: Arlington PD, Gadsden PD, Georgia Tech PD, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Miami-Dade PD, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Ogden  Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Seattle PD. 

Keep in mind, as the EFF points out, the number of certificates are not equal to the number of drones. So the military may have many, many drones flying while a city government might just have one.

Read more.

Posted at 4:16 PM 148 notes Reblogged from theatlantic

Notes

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    About Atlantic Magazine:
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  19. pushinghoopswithsticks reblogged this from theatlantic and added:
    While the government’s use of drones in other countries has drawn scrutiny, there are plenty of drones flying in...
  20. opir reblogged this from emergentfutures
  21. awesomedawsome reblogged this from emergentfutures
  22. pandorasbeat reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    This a very informal gaze into what’s really happening in the skies above us.
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  26. oriontalkradionews reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    Who Has the Right to Fly a Drone Above Your Head? While the government’s use of drones in other countries has drawn...
  27. emergentfutures reblogged this from theatlantic
  28. treesongs reblogged this from theatlantic and added:
    Miami-Dade is on the list, no surprise
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