California Senate bans warrantless drone surveillance
/The California State Senate has approved a bill that will drastically restrict how law enforcement agencies from San Diego to San Francisco can use unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, for policing purposes.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 25-8 in favor of the legislation, AB 1327, setting it on course to go before the State Assembly once more for final approval of new amendments tacked on since lawmakers in that chamber last saw the bill in late January and passed it by a margin of 59-5.
Should the Senate give the bill another go-ahead, then the legislation will next likely land on the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown, a democrat, to be signed into law. Once enacted, it will limit law enforcement agencies from conducting drone surveillance by forcing police departments to obtain warrants before putting UAVs in the air, except in certain circumstances, like fires and hostage situations. Additionally, any footage recorded by these aircraft would have to be destroyed by the agencies that collect them within one year.
"The potential for abuse of drones is high and we need to be vigilant to ensure our Constitutional rights are protected," the bill's co-author, Democratic Senator Ted Lieu, told Reuters.
