Drone Notes Al Mac

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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM
Drone Notes
Navigating Drone general usage info
As my notes grow, I split major topics by focus areas, including: Dates (Time Line); (Controversial) Issues; Nations; Reports; (Killer) Robots; Scribd synopses; Terms.
Alister William Macintyre research notes Last updated 2013 April 05

Version 5.2
Drones Table of Contents Document split (3 Apr 01) ................................................................................. 3 Conflicting Stories Intro (2 July 17) # ! ........................................................... 5 Doc Structure (2 Sep 10)..................................................................................... 9 Credits (3 Feb 18)................................................................................................. 10 Contacting author (2 July 10) ................................................................................... 11 Legislation US (3 Feb 20)................................................................................................. 12 2003 Next Gen Air (2 Sep 18) .................................................................................. 12 113rd Congress (3 Jan 07) ............................................................................................ 12 1% protect from drone paparazzi (3 Mar 09)............................................................ 13 American Privacy Act (3 Feb 19) ............................................................................. 13 Police Domestic Drones (3 Feb 17) .......................................................................... 13 Senate Judiciary Committee (3 Jan 27) .................................................................... 13 112th Congress (2 Sep 17) ............................................................................................ 13 FAA Modernization 112 (3 Feb 20) ......................................................................... 14 FAA Transparency 112 (2 Dec 19)........................................................................... 14 Privacy from Drones 112 (3 Feb 02) ........................................................................ 14 Domestic Weaponized Drones 112 (3 Jan 07).......................................................... 15 EPA Drones 112 (2 Sep 18)...................................................................................... 15 Drone Warrant 112 (2 Oct 15) .................................................................................. 16 US Congressional Oversight (2 July 03) ! .................................................................... 16 US Political Rule Making (2 June 28) .......................................................................... 18 Regulations Philosophy Paradigms (2 Aug 26) ........................................................ 19 Activist Info Sources Directory (3 Feb 25) ! .................................................................... 20 Statistics (2 Sep 08) # ! ..................................................................................................... 22 Drone Kill Totals (2 Sep 17) # ! ............................................................................... 24 Killing Scale (2 Oct 19) # ......................................................................................... 25 Financial Alternatives (2 Oct 18) $........................................................................... 30 Financial Scale Drones (2 Nov 14) $ ........................................................................ 32 Personnel needed (2 Nov 20).................................................................................... 36 Maps and Charts (3 Feb 26) # ! .................................................................................... 36 Targeting Citizens (2 July 19) ! .................................................................................... 38
Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones
Technology Advances (3 Feb 24) ................................................................................. 39 Technology Advances for Home Hobby Market (3 Feb 25) .................................... 42 Micro Drones (3 Feb 26)........................................................................................... 43 Drone Future Predictions and Trends (2 Oct 09).......................................................... 44 Drone Business Plans (2 Dec 24).............................................................................. 46 Science Fiction memories (3 Mar 15)........................................................................... 46 Military Drones International (2 June 27) ! ...................................................................... 47 Terrorists with drones (2 Oct 29).............................................................................. 48 Where in World? (2 Sep 10) ......................................................................................... 48 Pakistan demands US stop killing innocents (2 Aug 27) # ! .................................... 49 Somalia Complications (2 July 25)........................................................................... 51 Yemen Blow Back (2 Sept 02) ! ............................................................................... 51 USA military droning (2 July 06) !........................................................................... 52 International Law Concerns (2 July 09) # ! .................................................................. 52 US Gov Secrecy (2 June 22) !................................................................................... 53 Hacker and Malware Concerns (2 June 23) !................................................................ 53 Nightmare Scenarios (2 Jun 25) ! ............................................................................. 55 Drone Hijack Experiments (2 July 13) $ ! ................................................................ 57 GPS Hijack (2 July 10) ............................................................................................. 58 Lawsuits and Secrecy (2 June 29)............................................................................. 59 Mixtures Military vs. Civilians in USA (2 July 07) ! .................................................... 59 Civilian Drones (2 June 21) $ !......................................................................................... 60 Drones for Peace (3 Mar 03) ! ...................................................................................... 61 Drones spy on bad weather (2 Sep 13) ......................................................................... 62 Drone do-it-yourself hobby (2 Dec 29) ........................................................................ 62 US Drone Industry (2 July 02)...................................................................................... 63 Australia Domestic Droning (3 Feb 17)............................................................................ 64 Canada Domestic Droning (3 Jan 29) ............................................................................... 64 Europe Domestic Droning (3 Feb 01)............................................................................... 65 US Domestic Legal Droning (3 Feb 18) !......................................................................... 65 FAA 2012 reports via EFF FOIA (2 Dec 11) ........................................................... 66 Court rulings on Police Droning (2 Aug 27) ................................................................ 69 Where in the USA? (3 Mar 31)..................................................................................... 69 US Cities with Drones (3 Feb 26)............................................................................. 70 Police by US City with Drones (3 Feb 26) ............................................................... 71 US Counties with Drones (2 Oct 19) ........................................................................ 72 Police by US County with Drones (3 Mar 03).......................................................... 72 US States with busiest airports (2 July 19) ............................................................... 73 US States with Drones and/or Drone Laws proposed (3 Apr 04)............................. 75 Police by US State with Drones (2 Oct 21) .............................................................. 80 US Universities and Colleges with Drones (3 Mar 18) ............................................ 80 US Federal with Drones (2 Dec 19).......................................................................... 82 Police similar surveillance (2 Oct 19) ! ........................................................................ 83 Drone Safety Concerns (2 Sep 18) ! ............................................................................. 83 Drone Lasers (2 Sep 18) ........................................................................................... 85 $200 million crashed (2 June 20) $........................................................................... 86
Drone Operator Error (2 Sep 18) .............................................................................. 86 Drone Communications (2 Sep 18)........................................................................... 86 Near Miss (2 Sep 18) ................................................................................................ 87 Non-Lethal Kills (2 Oct 18) !........................................................................................ 87 Police with Weaponized Drones (2 Oct 18) ! ........................................................... 89 Privacy Concerns (2 June 23) ! ..................................................................................... 89 Drone Ethics (2 July 23) !............................................................................................. 90 Drone Rules in US NAS (2 Sep 2).................................................................................... 91 Drone Dimensions (2 July 17) !.................................................................................... 91 RC = Radio Control etc. (2 July 17) ......................................................................... 93 RC Model Aircraft (2 Oct 13)................................................................................... 93 US Airspace now closed to RC Helicopters (2 July 17) ........................................... 96 Kite flying regulations (2 July 17) ............................................................................ 97 Advisory vs. Regulation (3 Mar 13) ............................................................................. 99 The Horses Mouth (2 June 20) ...................................................................................... 101 Air Force USAF (2 Aug 23) ....................................................................................... 101 US Congress Research (2 Sep 13) !............................................................................ 101 US Gov DoD.(2 Sep 05) ............................................................................................. 103 US Gov FAA (2 July 19) !.......................................................................................... 103 FAA Policy (2 Sep 18)............................................................................................ 104 FAA Feedback (2 Aug 28)...................................................................................... 105 US Gov FOIA sites (2 July 14)................................................................................... 105 US Gov GAO (2 Oct 13) ............................................................................................ 105 GAO finds barriers for droning (2 Oct 13) ............................................................. 106 US Gov IG May 2012 on CBP (2 July 16) ................................................................. 108 US Gov sites in general (2 July 13) ............................................................................ 109 News and Research (2 June 24) ...................................................................................... 110 Science and Technology Advances (2 Aug 15) .......................................................... 111 Drone mistaken for UFO (2 June 20) ......................................................................... 111 Reporter veracity (2 June 20) ! ................................................................................... 111 Revision History (3 Apr 05) ........................................................................................... 112 Issu Natn Note Rep Scr Term to 2012 Oct-17 (2 Oct 19) ......................................... 114 Date Issu Log Natn Note Rep Scr Ter to 2012 Oct-10 (2 Oct 15) ............................ 115 Issu, Nation, Note, Term to 2012 Sep-30 (2 Oct 14).................................................. 117 Notes, Scribd, Terms thru 2012 Sep-9 (2 Oct 14) ...................................................... 118 Notes thru 2012 Aug (2 Oct 14) ................................................................................. 119
Document split (3 Apr 01)

Formerly, all my notes on Drones were in one document, which was growing excessively large. I have now split them into the following: Drone Issues = A summary of what the controversial problems appear to be, reasons we need to figure out what is happening, then participate in the political debate over what should be happening. Some of the things people believe about drones, they may be mistaken, those concerns belong in the
directory, and need to be investigated, clarified, will be in my other drone documents. Drone Nations = A list of nations where drones are operating, being manufactured, purchased, hacked, crashing, being used by military, not necessarily of same nation. With each nation listed, I have footnotes with links to examples of how drones are being used in that nation, the sophistication of the drones, and more info. o We see many articles claiming drones are in 40 or 50 nations. o When I launched this separate document, 2012 Sep-10, my count was up to 80 countries with drones. o The initial list is alphabetical by nation. o Later I may add regional lists by Continent, with well known areas, thanks to being recent hot spots in the news, like Western Europe; The Middle East; and South East Asia. o I am considering adding CIA Fact Book and other links to show which nations are high up in first world, financial collapse, border conflicts, etc. so we see which are more likely to be using drones in combat, spying on home territory, civilian peaceful applications; or are victims of other nations using drones against them. Drone Notes = my main overall document, which later may be split again. o Here you can find: o Links to where I get this info, including official sources; o Hundreds of USA locations, where drones are in use; o Legal complications; Political Complications; o Statistics on numbers of innocent bystanders killed, so as to get at what numbers of enemy targets; o Technology advances, changing nature of Drone Capabilities; o Other topics. Drone Scribd = I created a Drone Info collection on Scribd, which lists many educational, interesting, and stimulating Scribd articles and documentts on Drones.1 Then I started reviewing them. Where I found, what seemed to me to be errors of fact, distortions, or incomplete pictures, I cite sources to complete the story, to help authors, of the other efforts, address gaps in their presentations. o So in addition to my summary observations on many Scribd info sources about Drones, I also provide a road map to the big picture of other sources I have found, to expand on the picture painted by these Scribd reports. Drone Terms = Glossary of Terminology, Acronyms, Concepts etc. o When first launched 2012 Sep-3, it had 260 terms, acronyms, concepts, references, etc. defined, relevant to my Drone research so far. For more details, see Al Mac Shared Research section, at end of Drone Notes document.
http://www.scribd.com/collections/3807680/Drone-Info at http://www.scribd.com/AlMac99
Many places on the Internet, we must register with the site, to access info there, and some people are nervous about personal info which must be divulged to do so. In theory, with a Google Drive Documents, where I have collection = Drone Info, with my Drone Issues + Nations + Notes + Scribd + Terms,2 all you need is the url in my footnote link, to get at my Drone Info3 Google collection, which also includes many official documents from government and other sources. If you are on Scribd, here you can locate what I have uploaded there so far. 4 It includes a spectrum of research into many different topics, but dominated by disasters like: Global Economy; Haiti Earthquake; Japan Tsunami. I also created a Drone Info collection on Scribd, with links to many educational, interesting, and stimulating articles on Drones there.5 I downloaded some, but not all, of these other Scribd person Drone reports. As I see statements which I think are factually incorrect, I plan to add my comments to where those documents located. I made my collection moderated, so that other people may suggest additions, but I need to approve them. If you are on Linked In, and connected to me: http://www.linkedin.com/in/almacintyre then you can access my Linked In Box Net shared document files. There, I have folders for many topics, including Drone Info. That folder contains my Drone Issues + Nations + Notes + Scribd + Terms. Within this Linked In Box Net Drone Info folder, I have Drone Sources sub-folder, with copies of various official documents from my collection. I am often behind in seeing drone news I wish to share in my drone notes. Sometimes I have shared the info first to social media, so maybe you want to participate in some of the same places where I now hang out, such as: Drone List;6
Conflicting Stories Intro (2 July 17) # !

Controversy has erupted regarding how governments of the world, on national and local level, have been using this emerging Drone technology. There are disputes over exactly whats happening, how things are being decided. While there are many kinds of drones, such as target drones of WW II, primary controversy is over:
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https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4b-ZLWR0bmZLS3d5OVk/edit Google Drive Document Collection = Drone Info: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4b-ZLWR0bmZLS3d5OVk/edit I also have a Google Drive Doc Collection = Disaster Avoidance, where I look into what the heck happened to cause various disasters, various proposals to be better prepared for better response, in many cases I do not yet have all the answers I desire. https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4bZMTA0YTM0YzktNTI0YS00NjVhLTg5NTItY2RiZjhiM2MzODkw/edit 4 http://www.scribd.com/AlMac99 5 http://www.scribd.com/collections/3807680/Drone-Info 6 https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/drone-list
Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Military use of drones to attack innocent civilians in nations where there has been no formal declaration of war, nor permission sought from local governments; Drones used in civilian space in apparent violation of constitutional rights of local civilians. Should a judges warrant be required before using what a drone witnesses, against a person, or are they like the occupants of police cars? When a drone fires weapons on a crowd, is that just like weapons fire from individual police officers? The US Supreme Court recently ruled that the right to face an accuser, includes the right to question the technician who prepared some forensic report. Does that also include the right to question the operator of a drone, whose information is used against a person? Many CCTV7 are now almost automated, operated by people unfamiliar with the underlying hardware and software, so maybe the right to face accuser should extend to a review of the technology, as has sometimes been attempted with the radar of police speed traps. How about the right to question phone company technicians, and view phone company software, to verify veracity of phone LUDs?8 George Zimmermans father, in the Trayvon Martin case, is a former magistrate, and has said that phone records can be faked, such as those between Trayvon Martin and his girl friend in the moments before Trayvon was killed. If anyone knows that phone company records can be faked, it is a person with his qualifications. Balancing Freedoms and Rights, when some technology can be inherently dangerous. Government secrecy. Agencies defy subpoenas from Congress, according to many hearings shown on C-Span. US government defies information requests from allies, and from court cases, around the world. A system of classifying all manner of material as secret, being very sluggish approving clearances for any Inspector General or GAO access to the data set, or system, to evaluate how much of this is justifiably secret. How can a free citizenry engage their government policy makers, without giving out information which might help our enemies? Factually what is happening, and how does that comport with our perceived identity as a free and democratic nation, which promotes liberty around the world?
There are two competing stories out there about the ratios between kills of legitimate enemy targets, and collateral damage to innocent bystanders. The two stories are as different as night and day, and it is non-obvious which version of reality is from the Horses Mouth, and which story is from the other end of the Horse. The official US story is that the drones are extremely successful in wiping out our enemy, while innocent bystanders are pretty rare, and the technology is getting better at
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CCTV = Closed Circuit Television or Cameras used all over creation, for both private company security, and all sorts of police interests, in the public sector. 8 LUDs = Local Usage Data.
focusing only on our enemy, with less and less risk to innocent bystanders. Here are figures via CNN, July 3, 2012:9 Drones killed in Pakistan: 2004-2007 = 92 militants, 8 other (approx 90% enemy); 2008 = 149 militants, 144 other (50%); 2009: = 384 militants, 163 other (70%); 2010 = 760 militants, 40 other (95%); 2011 = 431 militants, 26 other (98%). Pakistan High Court, and Human Rights investigators, paint a very different story. A person is innocent until proven guilty, says the Pakistan legal system, while the US replies that if we killed them, they are guilty by definition, you have to take our word for it, with zero evidence, because this is a secret military operation. According to the New America Foundation, QUOTE Our study shows that the 307 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 25 in 2012, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 1,855 and 2,848 individuals, of whom around 1,562 to 2,377 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. Thus, the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 16%. In 2011, it was more like 11%.
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UNQUOTE
US figures, thru 2010 total 1740 killed, of which 355 are innocent civilians, meaning 80% enemy killed and 20% innocent civilians. New Americas math is 16% enemy killed and 84% innocent civilians, with a slightly higher volume of deaths. Plus we are not seeing injured totals. This is a huge difference in data conclusions. There are multiple, apparently independent sources, with math similar to New Americas, while there are also multiple sources quoting the US government version of reality. Different sources have different ways of defining who is a militant, and who is an innocent civilian. According to Pro Publica,11 QUOTE The New York Times, citing "counter terrorism officials," reported that the U.S. classifies all military-age men in a drone strike zone to be militants, unless their innocence is proven after the attack. If that's true, it raises questions about U.S. government statistics on civilian casualties. UNQUOTE
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/opinion/bergen-drones-taliban-pakistan/index.html http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones 11 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones

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In many parts of the world, children are included in military age. There is no age which is not military age. Children can be kidnapped from playgrounds and turned into child soldiers. Another problem with definition of militant, according to the Long War Journal, Pakistan disagrees with USA which of the targets were trouble-making groups before they were attacked by US drones.12 Specifically, QUOTE The Pakistani government considers certain tribes to be good Taliban because they do not carry out attacks on the Pakistani state, even though they shelter al Queda and various other groups. UNQUOTE See the chapter Killing Scale for more sources, and more statistics. In the past, one definition of terrorism included the Irish Republican Army (IRA) planting small bombs which led to fire ambulance rescue workers, then ambushed by larger bombs. We all thought this was terrible. But now the US is doing drone attacks, which then apparently do follow-up attacks on rescue workers, and funerals.13 Any moral high ground may now be gone. For many years, drones have been an arm of the US military and CIA in the war on terrorism abroad. But in the aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan military draw downs, many thousands of drones are returning to the USA, seeking a new home, a new mission. The FAA has authorized approx 750 institutions (and counting) around the USA to conduct drone operations over USA cities and other areas. For a number of reasons, many people do not trust law enforcement, and other institutions, to behave responsibly with evolving terminology, are anxious about what is coming.14 Many people see many new laws as the sky is falling, because of the worst possible excesses of mission creep, expected by them. I am more concerned about partial mission creep, which eventually goes to court cases. Even when the courts rule on the side of the Bill of Rights, the mentality which had taken advantage of mission creep will continue to push to have legalized, whatever they lose in court cases. These research notes are a collection of links to help us navigate what is known about drone usage, and issues of concern to many people. I have mixed feelings about all this, try to divorce them from nailing down the facts, but it can be a struggle. Many of these links are rich in additional links and references. I have not thoroughly explored all of the articles I have found. I suggest people who are engaged in parallel research efforts like mine: Down load personal copies of information, since what is on the Internet readily available today, could be gone in a few months, or gone from sites where we found good info.
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http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes.php http://www.factoverfiction.com/article/7102 Fact over Fiction has retired, see News & Research. 14 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2117543,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Figure out how you are going to backup this stuff, because accidents happen. Stay in touch, so we can access updates of what each other have found.
Doc Structure (2 Sep 10) Topic subtitles end in a date signifying when that info last updated, so by viewing table of
contents, we see where most recent input to these research notes, especially aiding people with copy of an earlier version. Digit in front of month means year.
Version numbers are incremented, with this document periodically uploaded

various places for convenience of other people who can then pick and choose which of my research efforts they wish to download, and also see if the last version I have uploaded is numbered beyond the last that they downloaded.
Some chapter headings now have # symbol, after date of last update. This signifies that source(s) here have estimates of # drone attacks, persons killed, injured, who are justified targets and who are alleged innocent victims, or collateral damage. Estimates vary widely for many reasons, which can include: Lack of clarity of drone control (by CIA, military, hacker); Aimed at which kind of target (In Terminology, see: signature strikes; targeted killing); Definition of militant vs. civilian (See military summary; killing scale in statistics; terminology = Civilian). A key dispute is over the jurisprudence concept of persons innocent until proven guilty vs. USA saying they are guilty but refusing to present any proof, claiming it to be secret. Thus Pakistan thinks the USA has hilled thousands of innocent Pakistanis (unproven to be guilty), while the USA says 90% of them were legitimate guilty targets, but take our word for it without any evidence. In which Nation (see section = Where in the World?). Some reports are only what happened in a particular nation, a few years, others several nations. And spokespersons with some kind of Agenda. Some chapter headings now have $ symbol, after date of last update. This signifies that source(s) here have estimates of cost of drones, taxpayer investments, and what it costs for ordinary people to get into this market. Some chapter headings now have ! symbol, after date of last update. This signifies that the content here includes: what I consider to be wild speculation; conspiracy theory; or I have serious doubts of the factual basis. The content can be either the myth, or debunking info. Disputed info beyond # or $ evolution, rather whats happening, what can happen. There are multiple areas of dispute, so I may later add to symbol collection to help with that. This coding, into Table of Contents, was to help me try to correlate some info, which led to the Issues Summary section just after Introduction section.
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My general policy on chapter breaks is to try to have no more than two pages for one chapter. When some chapter runs longer than that, I periodically review to see if it can be broken up into something more digestible.
When I share links, I include entire url in footnotes. This because, depending on nature of original sources, and how the doc is ultimately copied, shared, accessed, hyperlinks sometimes become inoperative, for some people.
The Author of this research, Alister Wm Macintyre, welcomes other people to download copies of Als work, but warns that different cited sources have different attribu tion and copyright restrictions, so care should be followed downstream, in selecting where to reuse the material.
Users of my research hold Alister Wm. Macintyre harmless, and also the places I upload my research to, and agree that my copyright is reserved and that the information is available for the intended purpose of helping my social network friends share an understanding on how humans ought to do a better job of learning about our world , so that we can take constructive action to improve it. I am doing this using individual documents focusing on different topics which appear to be vastly misunderstood by policy makers, and large segments of voters, to try to avoid any one document being excessively large. Some of my research content is direct quotes from other sources. I try to give credit every time I do this.
Credits (3 Feb 18)

Thanks to many friends on social media, for raising my consciousness about the importance of these issues; where I need to improve my communication skills; and thanks to the hosts of social media for providing a medium through which we can have this discussion. This list includes: Alias Inkhorn15 16 Ashley Boyle who compiled a dynamite drone bibliography for American Security Project (ASP).17 Bob Speth Erik Jonker18 Google Desk Top Google Docs Google Plus
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https://plus.google.com/u/0/103028459671171670815/about He is one of several G+ contacts who have provided me with lots of relevant links. See DIKE in Terminology.
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http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/multimedia/drones-privacyparadox-privacy-and-itsconflicting-values-video
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http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 18 Via G+ thread https://plus.google.com/u/0/108007903544513887227/posts/dWStioGuqUg Erik Jonker supplied me with the most wonderful link: http://aviationintel.com/2012/07/09/tylers-10-thoughts-on-the-future-of-drone-warfare/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Jera Wolfe19 Johan Bart20 Mike Elgan21 Murray J Brown22 Paul Frank23 Stacy Stutz24 Steven Smit25 Susan Stone26 V. Posts to [drone-list]27
I want my research notes to be available to other people on the Wikipedia principle of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License,28 where: We are very careful to identify sources of info, clearly quoting when using someone elses words; When doing the quoting, do not in any way imply that the prior sources of the info endorse our spin on the re-write, summarization, conclusions, etc.; When we share, use this info, it s future iterations h ave the same kind of anyone can share it provisions.
Contacting author (2 July 10)

When searching for me: Alister William Macintyre = my full name (Wm for middle initials)
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Jera Wolfe 2005-2006 US Army/Nat. Guard; Infantry; Now a Disabled Vet. https://plus.google.com/u/0/101604758566835021293/about Here is a G+ thread which was used as a stepping stone to gather many of the links in this doc: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101604758566835021293/posts/cHffDPqPCW3 20 https://plus.google.com/u/0/108969895929492148102/about 21 https://plus.google.com/u/0/113117251731252114390/about Here is a G+ post about US drones over Iran: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113117251731252114390/posts/CkwueiqZ7By 22 Linked me to a collection of talking points discussion: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106352257888200427693/posts/9qSrojBLn3K 23 Here is a G+ post about US drones over USA, where Congress seems to be confused about what they just authorized. https://plus.google.com/u/0/102686188005488451760/posts/LTryazAhtnT 24 Stacy Stutz https://plus.google.com/u/0/112498900163608275911/posts shared info with me about micro drones https://plus.google.com/u/0/112498900163608275911/posts/RgA3RqkWNJr http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528745.000-microdrones-the-new-face-of-cuttingedgewarfare.html originally posted to G+ by Efstratios Filippidis - TheUndogmatic Thinker 25 https://plus.google.com/u/0/116911684148503370714/about 26 https://plus.google.com/u/0/110097167949323324728/about
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https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/drone-list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_AttributionShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License
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Al Macintyre = name I have used during most of my career Macwheel99 = e-mail handle (Mac-Wheel is a play on Surname) Macwheel98 = a few places where they messed up my access as Macwheel99, so I opened new account with this count down. AL MAC = sign-on name work place computers AlMac99 = user-id when joining places where function of user-id unclear to new users Here is how to get a hold of me via various social media. https://plus.google.com/u/0/108007903544513887227/about http://www.linkedin.com/in/almacintyre also on Facebook (may be leaving FB) http://emergencysociety.com/ http://haitirewired.wired.com/profile/AlisterWmMacintyre http://rebuildhaitibetter.ning.com/profile/AlisterWmMacintyre Haiti Research shared with / posted at http://www.haiti.prizm.org/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HaitiDisasterRecoveryResearch/
Legislation US (3 Feb 20)

In a future split of Drone Notes, into smaller document chunks, I tentatively plan to have Drones USA which would contain the sections on where drones flying domestically in USA, and what legislation is being considered. There might also be similar smaller splits, for other nations. It seems to me, that the vast majority of legislation proposed in USA, never comes to fruition. Some bills never survive the process of committee review, never get approved by party leaders to be voted on. Some are voted on, but lose out in the votes. Every 2 years, all 435 Representatives and 1/3 of Senators (who serve 6 year terms), are subject to election renewal by US voters, leading to another two year Congress, and the process begins anew, with many efforts, which failed in prior legislative sessions, being pushed again, with the slightly different mix of politicians.29
2003 Next Gen Air (2 Sep 18)

In Vision 100The Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108176), passed in 2003, Congress specified that Next Generation Air Transport System (NextGen), which FAA is developing to handle air traffic control, shall accommodate a wide range of aircraft operations, including airlines, air taxis, helicopters, general aviation, and unmanned aerial vehicles.30
113rd Congress (3 Jan 07)

The 113rd US Congress convened in Washington, D.C. beginning of January, 2013, and will end beginning of January 3, 2014.
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https://epic.org/events/drones/resources.php https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/drones_nas.html downloaded as CRS Drones in NAS 2012 Sept. CRS = Congressional Research Service; FAS = Federation of American Scientists; NAS = US National Air Space.
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1% protect from drone paparazzi (3 Mar 09)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.) was interviewed Mar 7, 2013 on MSNBC about drones. She made multiple statements about what she wants.31 It seems to me that Pandoras box has been open too long on some drone proliferation issues. She had the power to close the box, but did not. I am unconvinced that the Intelligence Committee is the right place to draft legislation to protect the 1% from paparazzi drones.
American Privacy Act (3 Feb 19)

A House of Representatives bill is attempting to restrict the private use of drones, making it a misdemeanor to use a UAV to photograph a person or their property without their explicit permission.32 Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey filed a bill which would require the FAA to improve privacy provisions governing drone surveillance. The bill, Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, would limit the governments ability to use information gathered by drones.33
Police Domestic Drones (3 Feb 17)

A law proposed by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Ca would limit police use of drones to that which has judicial approval. All government agencies would have to register all drones, and the results of criminal investigation involving the technology must be reported to Congress. The arming of drones would be flatly prohibited.34 The ACLU supports this.35
Senate Judiciary Committee (3 Jan 27)

Its agenda may include legislation on drones and privacy. 36
112th Congress (2 Sep 17)

The 112th US Congress convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and will end on January 3, 2013, 17 days before the end of the presidential term to which Barack Obama was elected in 2008.37
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http://freebeacon.com/feinstein-drones-need-regulation-to-protect-privacy-of-hollywood-luminaries/ http://www.fastcompany.com/3005995/fast-feed/lawmakers-target-drones-preserving-american-privacyact-2013 33 http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-usemore http://www.csoonline.com/article/728082/privacy-battle-against-u.s.-drone-surveillance-ramps-up 34 http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-supports-bipartisan-domestic-drone-bill http://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/domestic-drones 35 http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-supports-bipartisan-domestic-drone-bill 36 https://epic.org/privacy/drones/ 37 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_United_States_Congress https://epic.org/events/drones/resources.php
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FAA Modernization 112 (3 Feb 20)

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-95) contained extensive provisions designed to promote and facilitate the use of civilian unmanned aircraft.38 These included mandates for: development of an integration plan that is to commence by the end of FY2015, if
not sooner, along with a five-year roadmap for achieving integration objectives; selection of six test sites to study UAV integration into the national airspace system; designation of certain permanent areas in the Arctic where small unmanned aircraft may operate 24 hours per day for commercial and research purposes, including flights conducted beyond line-of-sight; a simplified process for issuing authorizations for entities seeking to operate public UASs in the national airspace system; a collaborative process to incrementally expand airspace access as technology matures and safety data and analysis become available, and to facilitate public agency access to UAS test ranges; a requirement to develop and implement operational and certification requirements for public UASs by December 31, 2015; and an exemption from rules and regulations pertaining to the operation of unmanned aircraft for model aircraft weighing 55 pounds or less that are flown within visual line-of-sight strictly for hobby or recreation.
In Drone Notes, see: Drone Dimensions; FAA in GOV sites, In Drone Dates, see Calendar section, 2012 thru 2015. In Drone Terms, see: COA; CRS; EFF; FAA; FAS; FY; GAO; NAS; UAS. In Drone Reports, note those prefixed DoT EFF and FAA; those with NAS in the labeling, and all GAO Drone USA.
FAA Transparency 112 (2 Dec 19)

Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced a bill to require the FAA to make access to the general public, a directory of all organizations which have been authorized to operate drones over the USA, so we would not be reliant on whatever the FAA says in response to FOIA.39
Privacy from Drones 112 (3 Feb 02)

Representative Ed Markey (D-MA)40 has announced a bill aimed at protecting individual privacy from drone surveillance. Rep. Markey said, "When it comes to privacy protections for the American people, drones are flying blind." The draft bill requires the
38
https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/drones_nas.html downloaded as CRS Drones in NAS 2012 Sept. CRS = Congressional Research Service; FAS = Federation of American Scientists; NAS = US National Air Space. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/toGPObss/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-112publ95/pdf/PLAW112publ95.pdf 39 http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/19/lawmaker-wants-faa-to-publish-names-of-drone-licensees/ 40 http://markey.house.gov/document/2012/drone-aircraft-privacy-and-transparency-act-dapta
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FAA to establish privacy safeguards for drone operators and creates new limits on data collection by law enforcement agencies.41 It includes provisions which would require the FAA to create a public website where it will list all locations of drone flights.* Markey also called on the agency "to provide guidance and limitations" on drones in the United States.42 Similarly, A Bill to Protect Privacy from Intrusion by Drones (S.3287), by Sen. Paul,43 June 12 A Bill to Protect Privacy from Intrusion by Drones (HR 5925), by Rep. Austin Scott,44 June 7
Domestic Weaponized Drones 112 (3 Jan 07)

House Adopts Measure to Bar Armed Drones for Homeland Security,45 June 7
EPA Drones 112 (2 Sep 18)

Representative Shelley Moore Capito introduced the Famers Privacy Act of 2012, to prohibit the EPA from conducting aerial surveillance of agricultural lands unless the EPA has consent from the farmer, has provided public notice, or has obtained a certificate of reasonable suspicion from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.46 During debate on the 2012 Farm Bill, Senators Mike Johanns and Barbara Boxer filed competing amendments on EPA unmanned aerial surveillance. Senator Johannss amendment would have banned the EPA from using aerial surveillance to inspect or record images of farming operations. Senator Boxers amendment would have permitted the EPA to conduct fly-overs if it was more cost-effective than ground inspections and if state officials were notified of such flights. Neither amendment was ultimately adopted. In Drone Terms see: 4th Amendment; Conspiracy Theory.
41 42
https://epic.org/privacy/drones/
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/01/drones_could_be_used_for_stalking_voyeurism_says _congressional_research.html 43 https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/s3287.html 44 https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/hr5925.html 45 https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/dhs-uas.html 46 https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf download = CRS Drone Fourth Amend 2012 Sept CRS = Congressional Research Service FAS = Federation of American Scientists
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Drone Warrant 112 (2 Oct 15)

Representative Austin Scott and Senator Rand Paul introduced similar legislation in the House and Senate, entitled the Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act of 2012 (H.R. 5925, S. 3287).47 Until they get amended to read otherwise, they would require any entity acting under the authority of the federal government48 to obtain a warrant based upon probable cause before conducting drone surveillance to investigate violations of criminal law or regulations. Exceptions to this warrant requirement: (1) to prevent or deter illegal entry of any persons or illegal substances into the United States; (2) when a law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion that swift action to prevent imminent danger to life is necessary; or (3) when the Secretary of Homeland Security determines credible intelligence indicates a high risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization. Both bills create a right to sue for any violation of its prohibitions. However, only S.3287 includes an express provision prohibiting unlawfully obtained evidence from being used at trial. In March, the House approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, introduced by Representative Landry (R-LA),which prohibits information collected without a warrant by drones operated by the Department of Defense from being used in court.49 In Drone Terms see: 4th Amendment; Border; Drone Police; Privacy. Representative Ted Poes Preserving American Privacy Act of 2012 (H.R. 6199)50 would only permit use of drones by law enforcement pursuant to a warrant and in the investigation of a felony. Any search would be subject to the same limitations and exceptions as apply in the jurisdiction where the search is conducted. Any evidence obtained in violation of the act would be inadmissible in a federal criminal prosecution, and from administrative hearings. Additionally, no federal agency may permit a private entity to monitor an individual. The bill has an exception for searches conducted within 25 miles of the national border. Hopefully it defines monitoring. Others in Congress have introduced similar bills.51
US Congressional Oversight (2 July 03) !

Quoting from The Atlantic, July 03, 201252: QUOTE
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https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf download = CRS Drone Fourth Amend 2012 Sept CRS = Congressional Research Service FAS = Federation of American Scientists 48 This might not apply to state or local police drones. 49 https://epic.org/privacy/drones/ 50 https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf download = CRS Drone Fourth Amend 2012 Sept 51 http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/19/lawmaker-wants-faa-to-publish-names-of-drone-licensees/
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During an Aspen Ideas Institute panel on the American military's role in the world, Jane Harman, who served in Congress until 2011, asserted that civilian deaths from American drone strikes are "very rare," adding that her characterization was based on her access to classified information. UNQUOTE It is important to put in perspective, that when she left Congress, she might no longer have access to these classified briefings. Referring to my chapters on Killing Scale, which tries to reconcile different stories, posted earlier to my notes, and Drone Dates on how statistics evolved over time, when volume of killings were ramped up, it is evident that Harman was still in Congress after the rate of killings increased under the Obama administration. So if she was getting accurate information, and reporting honestly, then she was being told that all those people being killed were legitimate militant targets, and she may buy into the guilty never prove innocent mantra. 53 Quoting from The Atlantic, July 03, 201254: QUOTE Let's return to the more conservative Pakistan estimate calculated by the New America Foundation. Tallying its best assessment of militants and innocents killed, its scholars concluded that "the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 16 percent." In other words , out of every 100 people killed by American drones, 16 were innocent civilians, some of them children. Imagine that even this conservative estimate overstates the innocents killed, and that the true rate is one out of every ten dead are innocents55. Is that "very rare"? QUOTE Quoting from the LA Times, June 25, 2012:56 QUOTE Once a month, a group of staff members from the House and Senate intelligence committees drives across the Potomac River to CIA headquarters in Virginia, assembles in a secure room and begins the grim task of watching videos of the latest drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. In addition to watching video, the legislative aides review intelligence that was used to justify each drone strike.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/whats-wrong-with-jane-harmans-portrayal-ofamericas-drone-war/259351/ 53 Pakistan asserts that people killed or injured by drones are innocent, unless proven to be guilty or militants. USA asserts that it does not have to prove anything, and all victims are enemies, unless someone proves otherwise. 54 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/whats-wrong-with-jane-harmans-portrayal-ofamericas-drone-war/259351/ 55 See Killing Scale chapter for figures of maimed and injured, but not killed, in these strikes. 56 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-na-drone-oversight20120625,0,6672018.story
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The Committee staff holds monthly in-depth oversight meetings to review strike records and question every aspect of the program including legality, effectiveness, precision, foreign policy implications and the care taken to minimize noncombatant casualties. UNQUOTE This means Congress is allegedly fulfilling its oversight role, assuming: the staffers are seeing everything known to CIA, and drone strikes by the military; the staffers have relevant competence; the staffers are reporting honestly to their congressional bosses. So how do we reconcile these people saying they have not seen any improper drone strikes, with reports to the UN, regarding thousands of innocents being killed?
US Political Rule Making (2 June 28)

Laws and policies get passed, approved, finalized, etc. via a complicated process. In summary: 1. Constitutional framework. 2. Voters elect leaders. The USA is a Republic. 3. President nominates people for key positions, such as US Supreme Court Justices; Ambassadors; Chiefs of Government Depts. 4. Senators approve, or deny, nominations for the key positions. Some positions are for life or until the nominee resigns, such as the US Supreme Court Justices. Some can be removed if their work is unsatisfactory to President or Congress. Some have specific terms, which can be renewed or extended. 5. Senate & House, in a bicameral Congress, go through a tortuous legislative process to reach agreement on proposed new bills, as advised by lobbyists. 6. President signs the bills into law, adjusted by signing statements, which can be drafted differently by later Presidents. President may veto some bills, but a super majority of Congress can over-ride Presidential veto. 7. President also manages government agency operations, like a CEO. 8. Senate & House also fund government agencies, and try to conduct oversight. Even though the USA has been in at least ten times as many wars, as have been declared, the undeclared wars were funded by special appropriations issued to Congress by the President. So we cannot say, in those wars, that the President was doing anything unprecedented, in waging a war not declared by Congress. 9. US Supreme Court rules on the laws and actions under the authority of President and Congress, overturning some, modifying others. The Supreme Court can only act if someone has brought a complaint to them, and they have agreed to hear it. 10. There are exceptions to most all the above flow of steps.
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Regulations Philosophy Paradigms (2 Aug 26)

I notice a gigantic difference between US lawmaking and judicial systems, of contemporary times vs. historical, and those of other nations, also between FAA and other sources of US federal regulations. FAA regulations about drones and model aircraft, define a level of technology, which existed at a point in time, and say that only that kind of technology may fly in US National Air Space (NAS), and must meet certain associated requirements, such as the unmanned aircraft (no humans aboard it) having a human pilot who holds a pilot license, and the host organization being certified for what exactly they will be using this for. Technology is constantly marching forwards, so we now have unmanned aircraft invented, which fall outside the levels of technology defined by the FAA. These new inventions may not fly in US NAS until the FAA upgrades their regulations to allow specific types of craft, to be flown for what purposes. This is very different from most other US regulations. Consider our economic crisis, and the financial activities which contributed to the global great recession. Regulations there basically say that if you are working with financial instruments which existed maybe 20 years ago, here are the regulations, but if you can invent new economic systems, not yet defined by law, you may do ANYTHING you please, and we can see from our global economic crisis, that this ANYTHING has included all kinds of things which should have been declared criminal, but there is no accountability. We have scandal after scandal, teaching us about how new financial inventions caused serious trouble, then the new bad stuff is made illegal, and the no-accountability people invent new trouble for us all. So the FAA says: this is what is allowed for what purposes, known by us at the time we drafted the regulations. Any new technology or new applications, are banned from US National Air Space, until we craft new regulations to cover that. The FAA enforces this with severe regulations. For example, a movie studio, or real estate company, using aerial photos using a model aircraft, can be fined $10,000.00 for each day they do this, because that activity is not permitted by FAA regulations. Other US regulatory sources say: this is what is allowed for what purposes, with capabilities known to exist when we wrote the regulations. Any new technology or new applications, are permitted without any regulations whatsoever, like Laissez Faire Capitalism. We now have astronomical foreclosures, at a worse rate than during the Great Depression; and Unemployment at its worst since the Great Depression; grand total of US under-water mortgage deficits greater than grand total all moneys in all US financial institutions; taxpayer stimulus money to Wall Street Banks intended to help Main Street get back on its feet, instead poured into unregulated commodities markets, driving up the prices of food, gasoline, other commodities. The vast majority of this thanks to our financial regulations permitting ANY activity, outside that which is defined by the regulations.
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In the USA, it used to be that if the laws, and Supreme Court rulings, defined something as being illegal or unacceptable behavior, this only applied from date of passage of law, or date of court ruling, forwards, within the geographic areas it applied to, and until it got over-ruled. So police doing things, later found to be not-allowed by Supreme Court, evidence collected that way, on dates before the court ruling, could be used in court cases. People doing things, illegal according to laws passed after they did those things, could not be held accountable under those rules, because at the time they did the things, they were not yet illegal, or not covered. This continues to be a general rule, but now there are exceptions. Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) is an exception. If a company goes public, or if it accepts foreign investors, or various other conditions, it is bound by SOX regulations, not only at the time of going into that type of scenario, but also for at least 2 years previous, when it was a private company, purely domestic ownership, no foreign loans, a reality not covered by SOX, at the time. In China, it does not matter if something is explicitly illegal or not, if you do something to embarrass the nation, cause the people to lose face, then you suffer criminal penalties, including the death sentence. So basically, in China, there is a mandate to be good, which goes beyond the letter of the laws. This is within their definitions. China has no concept of Intellectual Property Rights from foreign nations. If someone in China can reverse engineer anything, then more power to them for marketing a better mouse trap. IP only applies, in their judicial system, if one Chinese enterprise steals it from another Chinese enterprise
Activist Info Sources Directory (3 Feb 25) !

I am moving this kind of info to Drone Reports, which is a directory of sources of Drone information. Good starting points for seeing what info is available, includes: Bureau of Investigative Journalism57 CNN regarding US Drone attacks in Yemen58 Code Pink59 Drone Wars UK60 Foundation for Fundamental Rights, is a Pakistan Non-Profit Legal Advocate for Drone Victims.61
57
Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in London Britain. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/ http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drone-data/ http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/12/attacking-the-messenger-how-the-cia-tried-toundermine-drone-study/ 58 http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/11/opinion/bergen-yemen-drone-war/index.html 59 http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/05/24/the-uphill-fight-against-obamas-drones-an-interviewwith-code-pinks-medea-benjamin/ 60 Drone Wars UK see Drone Scribd Info. https://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/ 61 http://livingunderdrones.org/report-introduction/
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Know Drones62 travels to voter districts to educate the voters about drones, when their elected officials have had major votes on the topic. Long War Journal (use their search for drones to see massive article collection)63 The Middle East Policy Council.64 New America Foundation65 Pakistani Body Count66 tracks both drone attacks (by USA), and suicide bomb attacks, both of which allegedly target a hell of a lot of innocent civilians. Pakistan Human Rights Commission67 Pro Publica68 o Drone Math, asserted by US officials, which is not internally consistent.69 Reprieve70 promotes the rule of law around the world. UN Human Rights Council accepts complaints regarding alleged War Crimes.71 The above list is replicated in Drone Terms introductory section under Drone Education. Here, or there, may not be 100% correlated, at any given moment. Also see Links at: Living Under Drones;72 We can follow these many sites, tracking info about drone news around the world, various ways, many of them unsatisfactory in their development so far: Subscribe to web site updates to a news reader.73 Subscribe via e-mail. Physically revisit the sites regularly.
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http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/local/montgomery/know-drones-tour-lands-in-dayton http://www.longwarjournal.org/ http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes.php 64 http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/drone-warfare-blowback-new-american-waywar?print 65 http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones 66 http://pakistanbodycount.org/drn.php http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/05/pak-site-drones-only-killed-one-terrorist-in-2010-if-you-dontcount-taliban/ 67 http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/184803/the-un-would-like-the-white-house-to-please-explain-all-thedrone-killings/ 68 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones 69 https://www.propublica.org/special/how-obama-drone-death-claims-stack-up#1 70 http://reprieve.org.uk/ 71 Reprieve, Complaint Against the United States of America for the Killing of Innocent Citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the United Nations Human Rights Council, http://reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2012_02_22_PUB_drones_UN_HRC_complaint.pdf?utm_source= Press+mailing+list&utm_campaign=89f3db0a752012_02_23_drones_UN_complaint&utm_medium=email. 72 http://livingunderdrones.org/links/ 73 I have been using Google Reader, but there are many others.
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An Ap called Drones+ was developed by Josh Begley, so people with Apple cell phones could track this news, but Apple denied it, leading to controversy how come people are to be denied this info.74 Each time Apple denies for one reason, he struggles to improve it and resubmit with that gripe fixed, then Apple denies it for a different reason. Apple initially said that this information is not of interest to a broad enough range of Apple customers, it is not noteworthy enough to justify being an Apple ap. It lacks widespread appeal. There is not enough information in the ap, it is too bland, uninteresting. There is so much information on the screen, the Apple logo is easily lost. Apple allegedly claims that because drone attacks are nasty gory objectionable crude events, informing people about them is contrary to their family oriented packaging, although it has approved many violent games. If a mere aggregation of news is objectionable to Apple, then it is also reasonable to conclude that a similar ap, mapping incidents of police brutality and government corruption, updates on strife in various nations, or terrorism and natural disaster alerts, would also be banned. There may also be some covert pressure by the US government, since the CIA has been trying to deny the data from some of these information sources, claiming that some of the sources are really enemy agents, trying to make the USA look worse than we really are. Wired wrote Aug 30, 2012 QUOTE75 When a drone strike occurs, Drones+ catalogs it, and presents a map of the area where the strike took place, marked by a pushpin. You can click through to media reports of a given strike that the Bureau of Investigative Reporting compiles, as well as some basic facts about whom the media thinks the strike targeted. As the demo video above shows, thats about it. UNQUOTE
Statistics (2 Sep 08) # !

For reasons of government secrecy, how data gets shared, info on how many drones are in operation, where in the world, killing how many civilians, and other kinds of people, estimates of this range from none to many thousands. A link, thanks to American Security Project (ASP):76
74
Apple denies Ap which would track drone strikes. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/drone-app/ http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/09/todays-headlines-and-commentary-261/ https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/08/30/160328600/drone-tracking-app-gets-no-tractionfrom-apple http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/03/poll-should-apple-accept-an-app-that-tracks-drone-kills/ 75 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/drone-app/ 76 http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/
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The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. (2012) Covert War on Terror. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. [Online]. Available: http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/ This link provides access to some of the most extensive drone strike statistics available, including dates, locations, deaths, and related details. Specifically, TBIJ provides information on Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, with various data representations and visualizations available on a number of statistics, as well as direct links to primary sources. ASP Assessment: The amount of data available from this link makes it an essential source for drone research. Data is provided with a subtle anti-drone interpretation. Primary sources consulted for this dataset are reputable and credible; Wikileaks is occasionally sourced for Somalia data. See also: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative, New America Foundation, The Year of the Drone. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), January 2012: 77 QUOTE: In all, almost one in every three U.S. warplanes is a drone, according to the Congressional Research Service.78 In 2005, the number was only 5%. UNQUOTE According to Foreign Policy dot com (blog), June 2012:79 QUOTE Less than 4% of the Pentagon's 6,316 drones are armed and capable of conducting strike missions. UNQUOTE Of course we do not know if this includes drones operated by the CIA and other agencies outside of the military, for military style activities, or if drop bombs incl udes other kinds of weapon systems. According to LAWFARE Podcast as of March 2012:80 QUOTE There are currently around 20,000 robots deployed in U.S. theaters of operation. These robots, which are getting cheaper and easier to make, are characterized by increasing capability and increasing miniaturization. UNQUOTE Thanks to American Security Project (ASP)81 we see: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2012) Data Collections. University of Maryland National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. [Online]. Available:
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https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/drones-are-watching-you http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/drone-report/ http://www.scribd.com/doc/77662547/1105-001 79 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/21/drone_sweet_drone?page=0,1 80 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/03/lawfare-podcast-episode-5-missy-cummings-on-drones-dronesdrones/ 81 http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/
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http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data collections/ STARTs Data Collections provides access to a broad range of data on terrorism incidents, at-risk populations, profiles of perpetrators of terrorist acts, public opinion, and related data. ASP Assessment: This data collection is immense; researchers should know exactly what they are seeking in consulting the collection. There is a significant barrier to overcome in that many datasets are presented in non-standard formats or require specialized programs; however, some datasets are available to search in real-time online. If researchers know exactly what data they are seeking, and either have the specific program required for downloads, or the patience to conduct online searching of databases, STARTs data is an excell ent source. Thanks to American Security Project (ASP)82 we see: Pew Research. Global Opinion of Obama Slips. Pew Research. [Online]. Available: http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/06/13/global-opinion-of-obama-slips-internationalpolicies-faulted/ This survey, conducted by the leading fact tank Pew Re -search, provides detailed data from approximately 20 countries on opinion of US drone programs, foreign policy, and US culture. ASP Assessment: Survey is useful for its hard data on global public opinions. Scope and utility is limited as survey only samples populations in approx 20 countries, none of which are targeted by US drones.
Drone Kill Totals (2 Sep 17) # !

How many people have been killed so far by drones, put it on a map, let us know when the numbers change. Theres an ap for that, but you cant have it, yet.83 As touched on elsewhere, statistics can be hard to pin down, thanks to combination of government secrecy, different branches of government with different agendas about what information to be released, fog of war, scared witnesses, conflicts of interest, agendas of people communicating info, leaks without context.84 In a war zone, defined sometimes as a place where there are suspected terrorists in training, is there such a thing as a civilian? It has been alleged, that some branches of gov, involved in managing drone attacks, consider any person of military age to be a potential militant, where military age starts with people who, in other parts of our world, would be classified as children.
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http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 83 http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-drones-plus-20120830,0,3635631.story 84 http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/cia-drones-strikes http://truth-out.org/news/item/10907-cover-up-of-civilian-drone-deaths-revealed-by-new-evidence
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Some sources argue that USA drones are in fact targeting children.85 According to Pro Publica:86 QUUTE The Long War Journal87 and the New America Foundation88 track strikes and militant and civilian deaths, drawing mainly on media reports with the caveat that they can't always be verified. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism,89 which also tracks drone strikes, consistently documents higher numbers of civilian deaths. UNQUOTE
Killing Scale (2 Oct 19) #

Depending on timing of independent research, shared on-line, quoted all over the place, some #s shared on date X, might be what the research found out several months ago, so it is important, when practical, to extract info regarding what date range this refers to, in what geography. Then we have multiple posts citing sources which cite sources which ad finitum to difficult to prove original stat ements.90 The official US story is that the drones are extremely successful in wiping out our enemy, while innocent bystanders are pretty rare, and the technology is getting better at focusing only on our enemy, with less and less risk to innocent bystanders. Here are figures via CNN, July 3, 2012:91 Drones killed in Pakistan: 2004-2007 = 92 militants, 8 other (approx 90% enemy); 2008 = 149 militants, 144 other (50%); 2009: = 384 militants, 163 other (70%); 2010 = 760 militants, 40 other (95%); 2011 = 431 militants, 26 other (98%); 2012 so far = 153 militants, zero other. The CNN article claims a reduction in terrorism attacks in Pakistan, so even though some who take credit for terrorist strikes claim in retaliation for drone attacks, it may be reasonable to conclude that our enemy has an infinity of reasons they could claim if one not available, lots alternatives to substitute. Theres also a senior Pakistan military leader quoted confirming US official story.
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USA allegedly targeting children with drone strikes. http://www.gulftimes.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=523292&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26 https://plus.google.com/u/0/118145269988711257089/posts/5sxW4yPiqGg 86 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones 87 http://www.longwarjournal.org/ Use their search for drones and find scores for stories. 88 http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones They have a map of where US drone strikes have occurred in Pakistan, and estimates of total deaths there. 89 The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/dronedata/ has lots of charts, showing volume of drone kills in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/09/10/a-picture-of-war-the-cias-drone-strikes-in-pakistan/ 90 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/cnns-bogus-drone-deaths-graphic/259493/ 91 http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/opinion/bergen-drones-taliban-pakistan/index.html
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Approx 80% of the people killed in Pakistan by US drones were innocent, says Pakistans Interior Minister,92 Oct 2012. As many as 4,000 people have been killed in US drone strikes since 2002 in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, according to ACLU estimates.93 Over 200 children killed by US drone strikes since 2004, outside legitimate war zones, according to this source.94 According to the Pakistan Body Count site,95 here are totals from US Drone attacks in Pakistan, thru July 1, 2012: 305 drone attacks; 11% victims are women; 1,548 to 2,902 killed of whom 1,168 to 2,324 are civilians (neither Al Qaeda, nor Taliban); 306 to 1,125 injured.
Bureau of Investigative Journalism counted CIA drone strikes in Pakistan 2004 to

2012 (so far):96 333 strikes total 52 under President Bush 281 under President Obama 2,490-3.194 killed 482-832 were civilians 175 were children 1,194 to 1,315 injured people
Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates US drone strikes in Yemen 2001 to

2012 (so far):97 34-109 strikes total 326-931 killed 58-146 civilians 24-30 children
Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates US drone strikes in Somalia 2007 to

2012 (so far):98
92
http://www.infowars.com/pakistan-interior-minister-80-killed-by-drones-are-innocents/ but Info Wars is not considered to be a credible source, by many. 93 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/21/drone-strikes-international-law-un?newsfeed=true 94 http://www.gulftimes.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=523292&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26 95 http://pakistanbodycount.org/drn.php 96 http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/01/11/obama-2012-strikes/ 97 http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/05/08/yemen-reported-us-covert-action-2012/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 3-9 strikes total 58-169 killed 11-57 civilians 1-3 children
99
According to the New America Foundation, QUOTE Our study shows that the 307 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 25 in 2012, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 1,855 and 2,848 individuals, of whom around 1,562 to 2,377 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. Thus, the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 16%. In 2011, it was more like 11%.
UNQUOTE
US figures, thru 2010 total 1740 killed, of which 355 are innocent civilians, meaning 80% enemy killed and 30% innocent civilians. New Americas math is 16% enemy killed and 84% innocent civilians, with a slightly higher volume of deaths. Plus we are not seeing injured totals. This is a huge difference in data conclusions. Different sources have different ways of defining who is a militant, and who is an innocent civilian. According to Pro Publica,100 QUOTE The New York Times, citing "counter terrorism officials," reported that the U.S. classifies all military-age men in a drone strike zone to be militants, unless their innocence is proven after the attack. If that's true, it raises questions about U.S. government statistics on civilian casualties. UNQUOTE Another problem with definition of militant, according to the Long War Journal, Pakistan disagrees with USA which of the targets were trouble-making groups before they were attacked by US drones.101 Specifically, QUOTE The Pakistani government considers certain tribes to be good Taliban because they do not carry out attacks on the Pakistani state, even though they shelter al Queda and various other groups. UNQUOTE The Peshawar High Court of Pakistan ruled that US drone attacks violated International Law, including the Geneva Convention, after hearing testimony about 277 attacks by the US pilotless aircraft which had killed 1,680 people and injured 2,634 inside Pakistan, without any agreement with the government of Pakistan
98 99
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/02/22/get-the-data-somalias-hidden-war/ http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones 100 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones 101 http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes.php
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approving such action.102 In this court case, and various lawsuits, lawyers for the victims say they must be considered to be innocent civilians, unless the USA proves otherwise. The US has, so far, refused to cooperate with any of the law suits about drone usage. At least 957 people killed in Pakistan in 2010 alone by US drones, according to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission.103 Quoting from The Atlantic, July 03, 2012104: QUOTE Here is a good rundown of independent civilian casualty estimates in Pakistan from Pro-Publica: A count by Bill Roggio, editor of the website the Long War Journal, which bases its estimates on news reports, puts the number of civilian killed in Pakistan at 138. The New America Foundation estimates that, based on press reports, between 293 and 471 civilians have been killed in the attacks. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which draws on a wider array of sources including researchers and lawyers in Pakistan, puts the number of civilians killed at between 482 and 832. The authors of the various estimates all emphasize that their counts are imperfect. Of course, drones are being used in other countries too. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which lays out its methodology here, estimates that 58 to 146 civilians have been killed in Yemen, and that 11 to 57 civilians have been killed in Somalia. Michael O'Hanlon is correct when he says, in the clip above105, that there are some abroad who have an incentive to inflate the number of deaths by drone the United States is causing. It is also true that the United States has an incentive to understate the numbers, that its methodology for determining who is a militant obviously overstates their numbers, and that there are almost certainly C.I.A. strikes that never get mentioned in the press reports that independent investigators rely on to formulate their numbers. QUOTE
123 to 147 alleged militants were killed by US drones in North Waziristan, Pakistan in 2012 thru June 26, according to the New America Foundation, not
counting 2 high profile targets.106
102
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2012/jun/04/pass-notes-cameron-munter http://dawn.com/2012/06/21/ministry-tells-court-no-agreement-on-drone-attacks/ 103 http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/184803/the-un-would-like-the-white-house-to-please-explain-allthe-drone-killings/ 104 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/whats-wrong-with-jane-harmans-portrayal-ofamericas-drone-war/259351/ 105 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/whats-wrong-with-jane-harmans-portrayal-ofamericas-drone-war/259351/ 106 http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones
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29 to 37 alleged militants were killed by US drones in South Waziristan, Pakistan in 2012 thru June 26, according to the New America Foundation, not counting 2 high
profile targets.107 The Middle East Policy Council explains how US drone attack strategies evolved through a serious of phases.108 1. Phase #1, in Bush administration, roughly 2002-04, served as a testing period of limited strikes on high-value targets. It had 2 strikes, killing 2 high value targets, killing 11 total, with ratio of high value to total being: 1:5. 2. Phase #2, in Bush administration, 2005-07, consisted of a slight increase in strikes with the same target set: high-value terrorist suspects. These attacks were conducted exclusively in Pakistan, had 6 strikes, killing 2 high value targets, killing 53 total, with ratio of high value to total being: 1:26. 3. Phase #3, in Bush administration, 2008, had 48 strikes, killing 5 high value targets, killing 323 total, with ratio of high value to total being: 1:66. The operating theory was that since limited strikes had been successful, an increase in volume would be even more so. 4. Phase #4, in Obama administration, 2009-2012, so far had 161 strikes, killing 7 high value targets, killing 1029 total, with ratio of high value to total being: 1:147. This phase had a great increase in attack frequency, and an expansion of the target list to include targets of opportunity, and unidentified militants of dubious rank and funerals Adding up those 4 phases: 1,416 total deaths, in 217 strikes. From charts at the Long War Journal, I find the following tally, regarding US drone airstrikes in Pakistan:109 (militants here = Taliban and/or Al Qaeda) 2004 = 1 attack 2005 = 1 attack 2006 = 3 attacks, killing 20 civilians and 122 militants 2007 = 5 attacks killing 173 militants 2008 = 35 attacks killing 31 civilians and 286 militants 2009 = 53 attacks killing 43 civilians and 463 militants 2010 = 117 attacks killing 14 civilians and 89 militants 2011 = 64 attacks killing 30 civilians and 405 militants 2012 thru Jun 26 killing 162 militants
107 108
http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/drone-warfare-blowback-new-american-waywar?print The numbers of deaths have been taken from the SISMEC's drone database and represents the most conservative death toll. They used the lowest death toll reported in any newspaper, to highlight the increasingly inaccurate nature of the drone program without embellishment. 109 http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes.php
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Financial Alternatives (2 Oct 18) $

According to July 2012 testimony to Congress, 110 by EPIC,111 QUOTE Drones are cheaper to buy, maintain, and operate112 than helicopters, or other forms of aerial surveillance.113 Drone manufacturers have recently announced new designs which would allow drones to operate for more than 48 consecutive hours,114and other technology could extend the flight time of future drones out into weeks and months.115 By virtue of their design, size, and how high they can fly, drones can operate undetected in urban and rural environments.116 UNQUOTE EPIC testimony talks about how advances in technology can dramatically add to our surveillance society, the collected data at risk of being breached, drones at risk of being hacked. There are all topics I have explored at length elsewhere in my notes so far. 117.
110
Congress House Transcript Drones in USA Skies 2012 July Abstract Summary = http://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=719102 Full 865k Transcript = https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=719102 111 EPIC = Electronic Privacy Information Center https://epic.org/ and http://www.epic.org/privacy/drones EPIC testified on Panel II of Congress House Transcript Drones in USA Skies 2012 July 112 As we see in other financial notes, it costs the military more to maintain and operate drones than manned flight. This may be related to levels of experience, need to maintain personnel for less standardized equipment, which is evolving more rapidly. 113 Drones Set Sights on U.S. Skies, NY Times (Feb. 17, 2012), by Nick Wingfield and Somini Sengupta, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/technology/drones-with-an-eye-on-the-public-cleared-tofly.html?pagewanted=all http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/05/drone-auto-vids/ Shelby County Sheriffs Department Wants Drones, WREG (May 3, 2012), by Sabrina Hall http://wreg.com/2012/05/03/shelby-county-sheriffs-department-wants-drones/ Drones can run from $300 for the most basic drone, able to record and transmit video, to $18 million for a General Atomics Predator B drone, the model owned by the United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Parrot AR.Drone 2.0, Apple, http://store.apple.com/us/product/H8859ZM/A Office of the Inspector Gen., Dept Homeland Security, OIG-12-85, CBPs Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Nations Border Security (May 2012), http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2012/OIG_12-85_May12.pdf [hereinafter DHS OIG Report] at 2. Al Mac previously downloaded, calling it: DHS IG Audit CBP 85 2012 May. 114 Mark Brown, Lockheed Uses Ground- BasedLaser to Recharge Drone Mid- Flight(2012 July 12)
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/12/lockheed-lasers
115
Steven Aftergood, Secret Drone Technology Barred by Political Conditions (Mar. 22, 2012), http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/03/sandia_drone.html 116 Jennifer Lynch, Are Drones Watching You?, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Jan. 10, 2012), https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/drones-are-watching-you See Drones for State-based espionage in Drone Issues, for additional implications. 117 See Drone Issues for a compendium of concerns.
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According to July 2012 testimony to Congress,118 The Montgomery County Texas Sheriff Office (MCSO) investigated alternatives in 2005. Initial cost, not counting full time personnel to operate and maintain it, A law enforcement helicopter with associated equipment, would require over $ 2 million; A small law enforcement fixed wing aircraft, with associated equipment, would cost around $ 400,000. This was too expensive. MCSO worked with, and tried to work with, other government agencies, which was unsatisfactory for various reasons (see the testimony for details). In 2008, Vanguard Defense Industries (VDI), a manufacturer of drones, reached out to MCSO. The proposed Shadow Hawk platform was a small helicopter with a color video
camera and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) capabilities. The aircraft could be launched quickly, provide an aerial view during a critical incident, and be economical to purchase and operate. They considered many public safety response scenarios it could be used for, to serve law enforcement, fire dept, emergency management, such as hurricane evacuation. MCSO got a $ 220,000 funding grant thru Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) which included a one year maintenance agreement and air crew training for two personnel. They took delivery of their drone Dec 2011, and within a few months had purchased and implemented an upgraded guidance system, as well as an LED lighting system, to better identify the aircraft. MCSO initiated Certificate of Authorization (COA) application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2010. The initial COA was approved in 2012. It took that long because FAA was new to this process. So far, MCSO has only had one opportunity to use it, which the FAA denied. The sole purpose of the FAA should be to monitor drones from an aeronautical stand point only, an area in which they are the experts. FAA rank and file hierarchy lack the law enforcement, fire, or emergency management background to be able to relate to the mission of these agencies. MCSO perception is the FAA tends to look at drone usage with myopic vision, and that DHS is better qualified for the role of approving missions, and maintaining statistics on the effectiveness of drones in different scenarios. The FAAs role should stop at the regular, routine review of agency flight operations to insure flight safety rules are being followed. MCSO would like to use a drone to deliver a cellular phone and/or an emergency medical kit to a flood victim, stranded on the roof of a house, but currently, the FAA prohibits this type of activity. Drones operate just like their manned counterparts. The primary difference is having a crew on the ground operating it as opposed to a crew operating the airborne aircraft. There has been case law developed over the years to deal with manned aircraft
118
MCSO testified on Panel II of Congress House Transcript Drones in USA Skies 2012 July Abstract Summary = http://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=719102 Full 865k Transcript = https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=719102
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operations for public safety agencies. MCSO believes these same laws would absolutely apply to drone operations. For a rather different spin on MCSO drone activity, see Police Drones within Non-Lethal Kills.
with Weaponized
Financial Scale Drones (2 Nov 14) $

$1.5 Trillion = how much USA has so far invested in the War on Drugs, in 40 years, according to link at footnote.119 $1 Trillion = how much USA has so far invested in the War on Drugs, with nothing to show for it, in terms of any change in volume of people addicted & consuming the stuff, according to Rep John Conyers (D-Michigan) in a Congress hearing I saw on C-Span. $400 Billion = estimated size of future civilian drone market. 120 $80.1 Billion = US Spy Budget for 2010.121 $78.6 Billion = US Spy Budget for 2011.122 $75.4 Billion = US Spy Budget for 2012.123 $24 Billion = DoD Budget request124 for drones 2010-2015 $16 Billion (more than) = DoD plans to spend 2008-2013 to improve drone technology & acquire more of them.125 $6 Billion = US Navy budget for Drones.126 $4 Billion = How much NATO plans to spend on drones over the next 20 years.127 $3 Billion = How much the USA spent on unmanned aircraft in 2010.128 $ 3 Billion, or 37% = increase in costs beyond initial estimates, for Pentagon acquisitions.129 $ 1.5 million from NASA to whoever can first perfect the Jetsons vehicle. 130 $ 1.4 Billion = investments in improvements to US drone base in Djibouti.131 $1 Billion (Canadian) = Starting Budget for Canadian Drone fleet. 132

119
http://reason.com/blog/2012/10/11/forty-years-of-drug-war-failure-in-asin?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reason%2FHitandRun+%28 Reason+Online+-+Hit+%26+Run+Blog%29 120 http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre8ad1hr-us-drones-civilian/ 121 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-30/u-s-spy-budget-declines-for-first-time-in-five-years.html 122 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-30/u-s-spy-budget-declines-for-first-time-in-five-years.html 123 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-30/u-s-spy-budget-declines-for-first-time-in-five-years.html
124 125
126 127
Summary of GAO Drones Military 10-508 t = 2010 March testimony.(21 pages) GAO Drones Military 10-508 t = 2010 March testimony.(21 pages)
http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065928468 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/case+armed+drones+Canada/7175031/story.html 128 See US Drone Industry.

129
Summary of GAO Drones Military 10-508 t = 2010 March testimony.(21 pages) The GAO audited 10 drone acquisition programs. 264% increase in costs was biggest.
130
http://www.slashgear.com/nasa-weighing-1-5m-autonomous-drone-challenge-jetsons-cars-ahoy18252613/ 131 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/secret-drone-base/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM $200 million = Cost of Navy Drone which crashed June 2012 in Maryland.
$30,000 to $50,000 is the expected cost of a small drone for use by a police dept, which is about the same as what they expect to pay for a police car.133
See page 6 of GAO Drones Military 10-508 t = 2010 March testimony.(21 pages) for a chart134 of how much DoD is spending on several types of drones, which collectively are eating 80% of DoD budget for drones.
Drone Million $ FY1015 8,354.7 5,130.1 3,783.9 3,306.1 1,781.4 1,056.4 829.5 472.4 Maximum feet 50,000 60,000 60,000 25,000 15,000 40,000 25,000 20,000
Reaper Global Hawk RQ 48 BAMS Sky Warrior Shadow Navy UCAS D Predator Navy Fire Scout
As technology advances, and these things become cheaper, or more expensive, some risks may become more prevalent.135 The American Security Project (ASP) claims QUOTE136 Military drones are only generally slightly cheaper to both acquire and operate than conventional fighter jets. Drones are slightly more cost effective to acquire and operate than conventional manned aircraft. So the real question of cost effectiveness should instead be one of operational advantage: whether the strategic advantage and human protection afforded by the use of drones in overseas operations outweighs the potential security threat posed by higher crash rates and growing backlash in target environments. UNQUOTE
132
http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/132190-defence-headquarters-sets-its-sights-on-billiondollar-fleet-of-armed-drones 133 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-889T GAO Drones USA 12-889 t = 2012 July testimony on role of DHS. 134 The chart was a mess when I tried to cut-paste it from the GAO report, so I opened Excel, transcribed the info I wanted, copy pasted the columns to this Word document, and the results were great. 135 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/the-serious-side-of-lawfares-drone-smackdown/ http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/gabriella-blum-on-spiders-and-invisible-threats/ 136 http://americansecurityproject.org/featured-items/2012/the-strategic-context-of-lethal-drones-aframework-for-discussion/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM I downloaded their report, which has a ton of links to data I had not previously seen, and added it to my collection of official reports with the name: ASP 77 Strategic Context of Lethal Drones 2012 Aug. Here is ASPs fact sheet on US laws relevant to, and supporting, drone usage.137 Here is ASPs biography and bibliography of drone development in the war against al Qaeda, such as Congressional authorizations for drone implementation.138 I put most of it into Drone Dates with when key things happened, with a few in other context, such as a new chapter or USAF, and also added to my official report collection with the name ASP Drone Bibliography 2012 Aug. I found ASP thanks to Lawfare Aug 22, 2012 reporting QUOTE:139 Lots of proponents of the use of drones in warfare tout fewer pilots put at risk in dangerous missions, but what about the financial cost of drones v. manned aircraft? The American Security Project has this new report out on drones, which concludes that military drones are only generally slightly cheaper to both acquire and operate than conventional fighter jets. John Bennett in the U.S. News and World Report writes on the report, as does Mark McDonald in the International Herald Tribune as well as Eric Beidel at National Defense Magazine. UNQUOTE Here are summaries of those three articles on the ASP report. I advise my contacts to read the whole thing, in each case. John Bennett in the U.S. News and World Report writes about the ASP report.140 The new ASP report says: Data indicates the remotely piloted aircraft are more prone to mishaps.141 Military drones are only slightly cheaper than manned warplanes. 142 Despite claims to the contrary, unmanned planes require a large crew. 143 More info, see the article link above. Eric Beidel at National Defense Magazine writes about the ASP report.144 Whats missing in the debate is evidence. There are many claims and speculations.
137 138
http://americansecurityproject.org/featured-items/2012/fact-sheet-u-s-c-title-10-title-22-and-title-50/ http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 139 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/todays-headlines-and-commentary-254/ 140 http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/08/21/report-military-drones-only-slightly-cheaperthan-piloted-jets 141 We knew this already from various US government sources. 142 This is new information, and the data in the ASP report is very compelling. 143 The number of personnel needed to operate a Predator Combat Air Patrol (CAP) is estimated to exceed 80 people. The number of crew members needed to operate other drone fleets composed of four aircraft can approach 130, ASP concludes. 144 http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=871
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Do drone strikes reduce the threat of terrorism, or increase it, by angering people who were not our enemies until after their families killed by drones? Do military drones get the job done more economically than by conventional forces, or do they add to the costs of military budgets? In many areas, people are afraid to speak honestly, for fear that they may become the next targets for killing. There is the suspicion that various sides in the conflict make up numbers of people killed, militants or civilians, to make their side look good.
Mark McDonald in the International Herald Tribune writes145 about the ASP report. Quoting selected info from this article, to highlight key points. I recommend people read the whole thing. It has many links to sources, paralleling stuff already in Al Mac notes, which I did not bother to duplicate in this summary. Drones are often pitched as a fast and inexpensive way to gather military Intel, launch surgical strikes against persons who are suspected of being our enemies, get back out, with no losses to our side.. But many of the claims are misleading at best, dishonest at worst, when contrasted with the data in this new ASP report. The current discourse about drones i s polarized between two opposing camps: those who think the use of drones is morally and legally unacceptable, and those who reason that drones are so cheap and effective a debate about their use is inconsequential. Both camps simplify the matter to the pu blics detriment. Many questions have been raised about drone targeting. What did the people do, to make them worthy of being attacked by drones? Do the reasons justify trying to kill them? What about compensation for collateral damage and innocent civilians being killed in drone strikes? There has recently been some reporting which suggests drone pilots are now carrying out double-tap attacks, firing on people who arrive to help the wounded from an initial strike, or to carry away the dead, or to salvage vehicles and equipment.146 Nearly half of all Reaper, Predator and Global Hawk operators report high operational stress, as my colleague Elis abeth Bumiller has reported.147 Monday Aug 20, 2012 the American Security Project (ASP) hosted a valuable discussion on the issues. An audio recording of the panel is here. A video is here. Table 1 of Cost Analysis Page 4 of ASP 77 Strategic Context of Lethal Drones 2012 Aug compares basic unit acquisition and operating costs
145
146
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/sizing-up-the-effects-of-u-s-drone-attacks/?ref=world http://tribune.com.pk/story/424117/us-drone-strike-kills-four-militants-in-pakistan-officials/ 147 https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/asia/air-force-drone-operators-show-high-levels-ofstress.html?_r=1
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM compiled from unclassified Department of Defense Selected Acquisition Reports.148 I was not able to cut & paste the chart into here.
Personnel needed (2 Nov 20)

Currently, the vast majority of drone operations have a human in the loop, deciding who should be killed. Technology is moving towards taking humans out of the loop, like in the movie Wargames.149 Even though drones do not have on-board personnel for their operations, the volume of personnel needed for their operation can be as high, or higher, than comparable manned flight. According to The Atlantic, Sep 5, 2012 QUOTE:150 Predator or Reaper strike drones require between 168 and 190 people to maintain one combat air patrol (CAP), or the ability to sustain twenty-fourhour coverage of a specific area. This breaks down to roughly 30 percent with the mission control element, or pilots and sensor operators to control from a distant site via satellite communications, coordinators, and maintenance or administrative personnel; 30 percent in the launch recovery element, or pilots and sensor operators to control from the launch site via line-of-sight communications, and maintenance or administrative personnel; and 40 percent in processing, exploitation, and dissemination, or the video and signals intelligence analysts, and maintenance or administrative personnel. For the Global Hawk spy drone, as many as three hundred personnel are required for a CAP. UNQUOTE
Maps and Charts (3 Feb 26) # !

I tentatively plan to split off a separate document just on locating Drone usage in domestic USA, while military locations to go into Drone Nations. Here is map of 64 bases inside USA allegedly used to control military and CIA drone usage around the world.151 Here are just the military ones, with list of names of bases
148
Department of Defense, Selected Acquisition Reports, 2010 -2011, http://www.acq.osd.mil/ara/am/sar/

149 150
http://afgeneralcounsel.dodlive.mil/2012/11/20/killer-robots/ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/how-terrified-should-we-be-of-the-pentagonsplan-to-automize-drones/261944/ 151 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/64-drone-bases-on-us-soil/ https://publicintelligence.net/dod-us-drone-activities-map/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM involved.152 Here are links to 110 coming. They also talk about 88 actually operating right now (88-64=24 not on earlier list.).153 Here is info about CIA bases for drones around the world.154 All this info is as of when it was found out. Reality is constantly evolving. Here is map of Pakistan locations of USA drone strikes.155 Here is map of US cities, where various institutions got FAA approval to fly drones over US airspace.156 This is as of April 2012. Here is December 2012 update.157 Here is revised again Feb 2013.158 Lots more have been added since then, not in public documents yet. o Color Coding: o Red Active; o Blue Expired; o Yellow Denied. EFF wants our help gathering info from our local communities regarding what these drones are being used for.159 The civilian operations map does not, of course, include classified operations by various branches of the military, CIA, NSA, Customs and Border patrol, FBI, DEA, etc. alphabet soup of agencies, which may be operating from other than the 64 military bases, or 88, or whatever the # is.. Quoting from the LA Times, in June 2012:160 QUOTE A new control station will arrive this month in Corpus Christi, Texas, allowing Predators based there to cover more of the Gulf of Mexico. An additional drone will be delivered this year to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's base in Cocoa Beach, Fla., for operations in the Caribbean. The Federal Aviation Administration has already approved a flight path for
152 153
https://publicintelligence.net/dod-us-drone-activities-map/ https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/06/us_drone_bases.html https://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2012/06/061412.html 154 http://www.gearthhacks.com/downloads/related.php?file=31659 155 Map of where drone attacks in Pakistan: http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111611283754323549630.00047e8cdf c55d220dee7&ll=33.100745,70.444336&spn=4.41699,7.03125&t=p&z=7&source=embed 156 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/faa-releases-its-list-drone-certificates-leaves-many-questionsunanswered 157 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/newly-released-drone-records-reveal-extensive-military-flightsus 158 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/02/faa-releases-new-list-drone-authorizations-your-local-lawenforcement-agency-map http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/which-us-towns-are-allowed-fly-drones https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=MAP&q=select+col2+from+1WuTyH62PmUF97oxo 6IreT1BL_aw9HJN5pocwmwg&h=false&lat=44.08758502824518&lng=85.5615234375&z=4&t=1&l=col2&y=1&tmplt=2 159 https://www.eff.org/node/70936 160 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drugs-caribbean-20120623,0,3135494.story
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM the drones to fly more than 1,000 miles to the Mona Passage, the strait between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. UNQUOTE Here are some graphs showing numbers of civilians killed by CIA drones in Pakistan, compiled by Bureau of Investigative Journalism.161 Chart # 1 (multi-color) illustrates minimum total casualties, minimum reported civilian casualties, and minimum casualties aged under 18. Red = Children; Blue = Injured. Some of the text is too small for my senior eyes to decipher. Chart # 2 (in red) illustrates minimum reported civilians killed in drone strikes year by year. Chart # 3 (in orange) shows the total number of people reportedly killed in CIA drone strikes. Chart # 4 (in blue) shows the tally of total drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 2012.
Targeting Citizens (2 July 19) !

If a person is identified as an enemy of our state, what difference should the outcome make if they are also a citizen of our state?162 Well apparently there is such a thing as a constitution,163 granting citizens certain rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of equal justice, the right to face accusers in court, rather than judge jury and executioner implement justice without any defense allowed. Quoting from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington DC (CREW):164 QUOTE Mr. Awlaki, an American-born radical Muslim cleric, was killed by a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. Newspaper articles have revealed that the Department of Justices Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a memo justifying his killing. Despite numerous calls for disclosure of the memo by members of Congress as well as several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to release the memo. UNQUOTE
161
Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in London Britain. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/ http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drone-data/ Some Graphs http://www.juancole.com/2012/06/graphs-of-death-us-drone-strkes-visualized-serle.html 162 http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/government-needs-rules-transparency-in-drone-use-lq5rv1l159943925.html 163 http://www.aclu.org/national-security/rights-groups-file-challenge-killings-three-americans-us-dronestrikes 164 http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/entry/crew-and-others-department-of-justice-anwar-al-awlakikilling-memo
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Technology Advances (3 Feb 24)

Drone and Robot designs have advanced much since I was first introduced to cybernetic organisms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the 1960s. How to design a drone-proof city.165 Cyber attacks play a major role with Drone warfare nowadays.166 The USA has been using ground-based drones to find and defuse mines on the ground, such as IEDs (Inprovised Explosive Devices) but now France has a system of drones for dealing with mines in the sea.167 The French system consists of a surface drone and two types of underwater drones that it would carry for use in coastal waters as well as in larger maritime areas. Drone collision avoidance, with random terrain obstructions, ahs now been developed.168 Drone collision avoidance, with manned aircraft, has now been developed and tested.169 But we probably can anticipate several years before older drones, without this technology, have been replaced. In early testing of nuclear bombs, the EMP was discovered electro magnetic pulse which takes out all electronics in time, technology was figured out how to create an EMP without needing the nuclear explosion to get it and now a drone can deliver an EMP.170 I wonder if the drone itself is shielded from this, or if the drone will crash immediately after doing the EMP, or if it is directional. Although this is marketed as taking out computers, but not people, in reality if it is like an EMP, it takes out autos, radios, refrigeration, electricity, critical infrastructure, transportation, target area back to stone age. Plumbing might still work, but not pipelines which need electricity. Defense includes Faraday cages (shield military security sites from this kind of thing) and having spare parts, properly shielded so they can be plugged into places, to replace what is now permanently disabled. According to Electronic Engineering students in a paper written Oct 2011,171 there are 3 kinds of drones:
165 166
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/how-design-drone-proof-city http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/12/a-second-drone-war-won-by-cyberattack/ 167 http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2012/10/25/France-evaluates-drone-anti-minesystem/UPI-65231351169151/ 168 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9664534/Drone-that-can-dodge-obstacles-developed-byUS-scientists.html 169 http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/DroneCollisionAvoidanceTechAdvances_207562-1.html 170 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2241525/The-Boeing-blitzing-drone-cripple-nationselectronics.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 171 http://www.scribd.com/doc/69421118/Drone-Mid-Year-Presentation-1
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM o Pre-programmed Drone o Smart Drone o Remotely Piloted Drone (by radio) I expect that over time, with rapid technological change, there will be more kinds. For example, What do you call the individual drones in a swarm, which simulates a flock of birds maneuvering in formation? What do you call a robot which has pre-programmed, which periodically gets an update, like Curiosity on Mars? It came with NASA instructions, which are periodically patched or updated, like anti-virus on our personal computers. The US Navy tests its Robo Boat weapons platform.172 US Navy also tests laser cannons for shooting down drones, and other threats to surface ships. 173 Drone submarines continue to be improved.174 I think they will need to be autonomous.175 The US navy is using under-water drones to clear mines in the Gulf.176 With the draw down of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, there may be a draw down of demand for military drones, but this market is going to explode again as FAA approves various kinds over USA.177
There are lots of people in denial that there is such a thing as a drone with humans not in the loop, and occasional stories of the US testing exactly that. 178 This debate has now led me to start a Drone Robots document focused on the state of art of killer robot drones out of the human loop, the legal and ethical implications of that. Here we see an impressive video of a robot plane navigating indoor obstacles at approx 22 mph, using on-board sensors, without GPS or a human pilot involved.179 It is yet another example of future spy technology able to get into some place that could be cut off from human direct controls. The next development needed for this little guy is stealth of vision and sound. It is unclear to me how this plane might cope with moving air of outdoors, or moving air of internal heating cooling conduits, or other
172 173
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/navy-drone-boat/ http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/navy-laser-drone/ 174 https://rt.com/usa/news/darpa-drone-unmanned-sub-455/ 175 https://plus.google.com/u/0/108007903544513887227/posts/Ri8FyabuEQL

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/November/middleeast_Novem ber389.xml&section=middleeast&col= 177 http://aviationintel.com/2012/09/15/drone-market-will-retract-before-it-explodes/ 178 http://afgeneralcounsel.dodlive.mil/2012/11/23/killer-robots-part-3/ http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama/2012/11/rage-against-machines.html http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/11/19/losing-humanity-0 179 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/drones-keep-getting-better-and-better/ http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/autonomous-robotic-plane-flies-indoors-0810.html
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM moving objects if it got into an elevator shaft for example. I can imagine this technology being made ever smaller, into a drone smuggled into an Iranian nuclear power plant, on behalf of USA or Israel; Gitmo on behalf of some group planning a prison break; The possibilities are endless. Thanks to FOIA, EFF got from FAA a directory of colleges & universities, police depts, etc. with certificates of authorization to fly drones in our NAS. I just checked the list. MIT had no such official authorization. Maybe they are one of the military secret exemptions. The list is replicated in my section on Where in the USA do we have drones. Also see the Terminology section , for acronym translation. Here is a collection of innovations in robotic and drone designs, including one which is in fact authorized to kill, without awaiting human decisions.180 Here is an illustration of a soft inchworm robot, which people can step on, without harming.181 We now have a robot which can change camouflage, as the need arises. According to the BBC, Aug 16, 2012 QUOTE182 The camouflage-bots are covered in a network of tiny channels. As different dyes are pumped in, the robots can quickly change their appearance. As well as changing color, hot or cold fluids can be pumped into robots, enabling them to be thermally camouflaged, and fluorescent liquids allow them to glow in the dark. UNQUOTE US Navy turns to Linux to operate its drones.183 Drones, which can fit into a soldiers back pack, can be used by soldiers for a variety of purposes. The army has issued at least 5,000 of them.184 According to TG Daily, Feb 18, 2011 QUOTE185
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http://www.fastcompany.com/3000743/week-bots-robots-we-build-kill-us For more examples, see Drone Robots. 181 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/how-about-a-soft-inchworm-like-robot/ http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/autonomous-earthworm-robot-0810.html 182 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19286259 183 http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57449783-76/u.s-navy-turns-to-linux-to-run-its-drone-fleet/ 184 https://www.npr.org/2012/08/13/158715809/drones-drifting-into-markets-outside-war-zones 185 http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/54190-hummingbird-spy-drone-developed-for-darpa
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM AeroVironment Unmanned Aircraft Systems has created a hummingbird spy drone, the first two-wing, flapping-wing aircraft that carries its own energy source and can hover as well as move forwards. During a demonstration, the Nano Hummingbird flew in and out of a building through a normal-size doorway. UNQUOTE A picture with the article, shows that the thing is about the size of a humans hand. I think this technology needs to have an adapter which can plug into a buildings power supply, so it can recharge itself, when on a spy mission into the building. While current regulations ban drones from flying near airports on US soil, because they are on a different control system from manned aircraft, and the UN is up in arms about US military drones flying near International airports, because of near collision disasters, US drone manufacturers are working on fixes for this, for the future. According to Aviation Week, July 30, 2012, QUOTE186 An airborne sense-and-avoid (ABSAA) system enabling the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk to fly in civil airspace will transition to fullscale development at the end of September after completion of a final round of research test flights. The multi-sensor system has been in development at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) since 2008 under the Multiple Intruder Autonomous Avoidance (MIAA) science and technology program. When the flight tests conclude, MIAA will transition to EMD [engineering and manufacturing development] for the Global Hawk program. UNQUOTE
Technology Advances for Home Hobby Market (3 Feb 25)

According to RT,187 and Wired,188 China developed a mind controlled drone. 189 The illustration shows the mind very close to the toy drone. What I would like to know is at what range these thoughts go, and if they travel at the speed of light between the mind and the drone, or if some other laws of physics are involved. Does it require the thoughts to be in Chinese, and how does it know the right persons thoughts are the ones to follow? In a discussion of this on G+, we learned that the original article was misleading. This is mind control.190 QUOTE This is a variation on a keyboard or mouse interface. It's like attaching a gaming joystick to a remote control transmitter. In this case, the axes are controlled by a different physical input than a roller on an x/y/z axis, or a laser light bouncing on a sensor, or a resistor being pushed down on a circuit board.
186 187
not
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_07_30_2012_p03-01-481223.xml RT = News in English, published in Russia. 188 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/zhejiang-university-china-brain-controlled-quadcopter/ 189 https://rt.com/news/mind-controlled-drone-china-157/ 190 https://plus.google.com/u/0/101604758566835021293/posts/KcXbod96EH9
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Micro Drones (3 Feb 26)

MAV = Micro Air Vehicle.191 For autonomous implications, see Drone Robots. Here is illustration of a drone in palm of hand.192 Here are pictures of one of the smallest drones in US military arsenal,193 or anyones arsenal.194 But some allege this is an urban legend.195 The Hexbug is a cleverly designed, tiny toy robot bug,196 whose function is simpler than contemporary drones, or historical AI.197 A few years ago there was an RFID198 privacy scare, which has relevance to understanding the micro drone privacy scare. Many products today contain microscopic gadgets with information about those products, which is used for inventory control, and security. Have you ever walked out of a superstore, and alarm goes off? You stop and security checks your receipt. They screwed up. There was an RFID gadget in the product you purchased, and the alarm should have been turned off when you paid for it. For inventory control, someone can walk down an aisle of products with a scanner, which records what products are on the shelves, and how many. This goes very rapidly, and inexpensively, compared to prior technologies. Similarly product deliveries and shipments, can be checked in and out, using this technology, very rapidly and inexpensively compared to how things were done in the past. Thus RFID has become a new standard for many industries. The privacy scare was that with these RFID chips still on the products in our homes, they might spy on more than the products they were installed with. Theres also micro chips being inserted in animals, and humans, and badges for humans, and credit cards, and cell phones. The privacy scare died down a bit, once the science filtered out into the mass media consciousness that the range of the RFID radio signal is proportional to the size of the radio transmitter inside the RFID chip. The reason the scanner has to be held a few inches from the product, only works when a customer is passing thru store doorway, is because that signal can only be detected a few inches away. Thus, someone outside of our homes cannot detect anything from RFID chips on products inside our home. Theyd have to enter our homes to pick up whatever the chips had recorded, or the RFID chip
191 192
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_air_vehicle http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-brief/69025-palm-size-mecam-drone-streams-video-to-yoursmartphone 193 http://theweek.com/article/index/240285/watch-the-deadly-insect-sized-drones-of-the-future https://plus.google.com/u/0/104477202728652698005/posts/gFRKbQcaknn 194 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2013/02/cyborg-roach-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-and-scuttled-underthe-fridge/ 195 http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/insectdrone.asp 196 http://www.appliedinspirations.com/appliedcontent/Projects/Hexbug/Proj-HexBug1.html 197 AI = Artificial Intelligence. Some people want Robot Maids, to clean house, organize house, increase unemployment. 198 RFID = radio frequency identification
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would somehow have to piggy back on network signal of wifi, mobile phone, TV, more powerful transmitter. Drones are now approaching the size of RFID chips, and resolving this re-transmission challenge via swarming. Micro drone A sees something, transmits what it sees to drone B to C to D to E etc. and via a chain of re-transmitters gets the information out, beyond the distance practical with just one drone.199 Notice, in the video, how a drone, which looks like a bird, is perched on an electric wire. We know that in real life, birds do not get electrocuted, so no doubt those drone simulation birds are equally protected, but if they are perched on a phone line, can they use that line to phone home?200 A limitation, for some drones, is how long they can stay aloft, without refueling. Here is info on one, which stays airborne thanks to a laser pointed at a particular place on the craft.201 I can imagine future technology, where delivery of energy via laser, could be used in other applications. The amount of energy needed, is related to the size of the thing. Smaller drones do not need as much energy to stay aloft. This is because the energy to stay airborne is based on the two dimensions of the wings or rotors, while the energy needed, is based on the three dimensions of the body. This is why the largest creature on Earth today is the whale, supported by water. A land or air creature cannot be that large. Air creatures are the smallest, because of limits to the 3rd dimension, supported by the first two.
Drone Future Predictions and Trends (2 Oct 09) See Drone Issues. See 2009-II Dod Drone Road Map202 references in Drone Terms. See Drone Dates with major Calendar events, showing progression of
consequences of policy decisions. See multiple chapters about various Concerns. Digital Trends predicted what we need to be aware of, Sept 12, 2012, QUOTE203 1. There will be 30,000 in the [US] sky in less than 20 years. 2. Privacy is all about reasonableness. 3. Fourth Amendment protection depends on the definition of search. 4. Drones will be able to see thru walls and ceilings. 5. Drones could have face-recognition software.
199
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VwKWJLC6BwU https://plus.google.com/u/0/103028459671171670815/posts/5uv7X1zxbo8 200 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VwKWJLC6BwU 201 http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-brief/64715-this-stalker-drone-stays-airborne-using-laser-power 202 http://www.acq.osd.mil/psa/docs/UMSIntegratedRoadmap2009.pdf 203 http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/drones-congressional-research-service-report/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 6. Aerial searches with manned aircraft are not against the fourth amendment. Drones we do not know yet. 7. Long term tracking is different from short term tracking. 8. US borders are a search free-for-all. 9. Technology sophistication matters. 10. The more common drones become, the less privacy protections you may have. 11. Americans are worried about drones. 12. There are ways to fight back against drone invasions of privacy. 13. Laws are just made up as we go along. UNQUOTE Aviation Intel posted Thoughts about the Future of Drones on July 9, 2012: 204 QUOTING: 1. Drones will grow up to become droids. 2. [Some] drones will get bigger. 3. [Some] drones will get smaller. 4. Drones will look more like organic species. 5. Drones will work in swarms. 6. Drones will inhabit space on an unprecedented level. 7. Drones will become the manned fighters future wingman. 8. Large cruise missiles will become dumb non-suicidal drones. 9. Drones will increasingly rely on nontraditional mother ships. 10. Optionally Manned drones will be replaced by Virtually Manned drones. UNQUOTE See the link for lots of info on each of these predictions. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Monday Aug 13, 2012, QUOTE205 The future of unmanned aerial vehicles, from those the size of a fist to those as big as the Beast of Kandahar, is unlimited for military applications as well as those in civilian aviation, said Maj. Gen. James O. Poss, assistant deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at Air Force Headquarters. UNQUOTE The article talked about possibilities, which go beyond the above list of speculations from Aviation Intel. The Daily Mail of Britain, reports, Aug 13, 2012, QUOTE206 Boeing engineers have successfully demonstrated new technology that enables drones to function like a 'swarm of insects' where they can communicate and carry out tasks in mid-air.
204 205
http://aviationintel.com/2012/07/09/tylers-10-thoughts-on-the-future-of-drone-warfare/ http://www.lvrj.com/news/drones-aimed-at-fighting-future-wars-165950786.html 206 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2187411/Boeing-showcase-drones-behave-like-swarminsects.html
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UNQUOTE
Drone Business Plans (2 Dec 24)

Today, Fed-X and their competition, use manned vehicles to deliver packages. In the future they may use drones.207 Today, we are killing school children by having them wear back packs, filled with text books, which weigh them down. In the years ahead, every child may have a follow me box, carrying their possessions, and photographing anyone who harasses the child. 208
Science Fiction memories (3 Mar 15)

Peoples Drone and Robot expectations may have been influenced by popular TV series, movies, and Science Fiction literature. America is attacked by Drones in the 2012 novel Kill Decision.209 Drones are used by Star Gate Command (SGC), when first visiting new, potentially hostile worlds.210 Drones were one of the types of weapons used by Sky Net, self-aware computer network, in the war to wipe out humans, in Terminator movies.211 A sentient unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) was a central figure in the action film Stealth.212 If Borg catch you in Star Trek,213 you could be converted into one of their drones. Drone Wars were one of the stages in the Star Wars saga.214 Eye-Borg movie reminds me of West World where nothing can go wrong, except the robots go killing the humans, for reasons never really explained, fueling conspiracy theories.215 UAVs are used in computer and video games such as F.E.A.R., inFamous, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, the popular Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises; game of drones; Drone War.216 In RoboCop, police duties were taken over by a seriously corrupt corporation. Now we have RoboCop technology being developed for real. 217
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http://www.businessinsider.com/the-drones-are-coming-2012-12 http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/fred-smith-fedex-wants-uavs 208 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-drones-are-coming-2012-12 209 Kill Decision http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&fieldkeywords=kill+decision+by+daniel+suarez&sprefix=kill+decis%2Cstripbooks%2C215 http://www.forbes.com/sites/markpmills/2012/09/02/books-of-note-killer-drones-tech-jobs-and-theinternets-birth-on-labor-day-1969/ 210 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_Weapon 211 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator For where we are on the path to really getting Sky Net, see Drone Robots. 212 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle 213 http://stexpanded.wikia.com/wiki/Borg_drone 214 http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-205_162-10005657.html 215 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1043844/ 216 http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2012/08/pathfinding-demo-second-life.html 217 http://www.copblock.org/21628/your-move-creep-researchers-building-robocop-policeman/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Pre-Crime was a system in The Minority Report, to supposedly identify crooks before they did bad stuff. Such a system is on its way to being implemented in the USA.218 Heres a drone speaking, on social media. 219 NASA sent a robot to land on Mars, which broadcast back to Earth, using a human (recorded) voice. Micro, by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston,220 is reminiscent of The Peace War by Vernor Vinge.221 Both are about a rogue US government weapons contractor who turns against the people of the USA. In Micro, the weapon is microscopic drone bots. In Peace War, the weapon is like the force field of Star Trek ships, inverted, trapping victims inside, in suspended animation, but not forever. Both are well worth reading.
Military Drones International (2 June 27) !

Several nations are using Drones as an arm of their military, and covert intelligence operations. People, in the nations where many people have been killed by these drones, are often much more aware of their usage, than people in the home nations of the military etc. which have been utilizing them. US widespread use of drones, in an unpopular way, can lead to other nations copying the practices, then USA getting blamed for setting the bad standards. 222 Here Syrian government uses drone attack on Syrian Civilians,223 a type of activity the USA had been engaged in world wide, so we see one consequence of USAs negative example of behavior. Here is a map of 64 bases224 inside the USA from which our military and CIA reportedly controls drones operating all over the world, for military and intelligence purposes. The US government claims that drone strikes, organized by CIA and military, are an efficient and precise way to kill our enemies, without putting our own troops at risk in the battlefield, and with only minimal civilian casualties. A lot of the criticism claims incompetence in however those enemies are identified, or proven to be killable. Its a case of judge, jury, executioner, at Internet speed, then many people second guessing the results. We know from civilian judicial system, that every time someone is accused of a crime, their family and neighborhood deny the charge, and sometimes via court trial, they are proven not guilty. But in most civilian court cases, lots of evidence of wrong
218 219
http://www.factoverfiction.com/article/293 Fact over Fiction has retired, see News & Research. http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/the-drunken-predator-speaks/ 220 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_%28novel%29 221 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peace_War 222 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/11/obama-drone-wars-normalisation-extrajudicialkilling 223 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-12/52-killed-in-syria-as-troops-pound-rebels-strongholds/4064990 224 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/64-drone-bases-on-us-soil/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM doing comes out, demonstrating initial impressions of innocence were often bogus. With military drone killing, secrecy prevents sharing proof of guilt, so we never get past the presumption of innocence, causing a PR nightmare. DNA analysis backlog is finding that approx 5% of the people convicted of serious crimes, were in fact innocent. In the drone wars, information provided by allies can be flawed, leading to assassinations of allies. Since identification of enemies, and their movements, is often associated with secret military operations, after a drone strike, the government is not going to be open about who all was supposed to be killed, and why. Different nations and agencies, operating drones in war torn areas, can have different policies regarding their use. When they strike, the general public probably will not know who did the striking. It is like a bullet in a city. Back tracking the bullet to its gun, can be a challenge for police detectives. Forget it for journalists in a combat zone. There is a PR problem. Survivors, and witnesses, of a drone killing, typically claim that the killed people were innocents, and this fuels propaganda war to recruit more troops for the terrorists against the nations operating the drones, and the nations accused of operating the drones.225
Terrorists with drones (2 Oct 29)

See Hezbollah drone chapter in Drone Nations. USA military drones can be hacked.226 Suspected terrorists were arrested in Spain.227 They had a model propeller aircraft. Details, are unclear, of what they planned to do with it. The USA also has designed kamikaze drones which would be very appealing for terrorists to add to their arsenals. Just point them at your target, and the drone will fly into the airliner, or public building, or whatever you want to destroy. It can also be ordered to travel to specific GPS coordinates.228
Where in World? (2 Sep 10)

I moved list of nations, with Drones operational there to a separate Drone Nations document. At time of document split, Sept 2012, I was up to 80 nations identified as having drones operating thre.
225 226
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/how-drones-help-al-qaeda.html http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/hack-proof-drone/ 227 http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/11/spanish-authorities-suspected-al-qaeda-members-trainedfor-plot-using-model/?test=latestnews 228 http://www.tgdaily.com/security-brief/65378-these-military-drones-are-kamikazes
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Pakistan demands US stop killing innocents (2 Aug 27) # !

It may be that the Pakistan government is saying one thing in public, and something else privately to the USA. According to Policy Mic, Aug 26, 2012, QUOTE:229 The Pakistani government is tacitly230 sharing intelligence with the CIA regarding the drone strikes, however it publicly condemns them each time. UNQUOTE According to the Pakistan Observer, July 2, 2012: 231 QUOTE
PUNJAB Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that there was little difference between terrorism and US drone attacks because innocent people are being killed in these incidents.
But in our view, drone attacks are more condemnable form of terrorism because these are state sponsored and people are targeted by state functionaries, which is a crime against humanity. Drone attacks started by US in 2005 have so far killed thousands of people in addition to injuries to many more and they also created anti American feelings in Pakistan creating difficulties for the countrys security forces to stabilize the situation along the Durand Line. Drone attacks trample the sovereignty of Pakistan, which the people of Pakistan can no longer endure. Though the drone attacks killed some of the key Al-Qaeda fighters, they caused more deaths of innocent tribal people and as a result those losing their near and dear ones are being persuaded by the militants to join their ranks and take revenge. Pakistan has repeatedly stressed that the US must provide it with the technology and share intelligence to deal with elements involved in terrorism on its side of the border, so that there was no collateral damage but the sole super power is looking at the use of drones with its own spectacles. Drone attacks are one of the contentious issues that are hurdles in restoration of NATO supplies through ground routes and as a result the US is suffering huge expenses by supplying its troops through alternate routes. We would therefore emphasize that the US must listen to the calls of Pakistani leaders and stop using drones against what it calls terrorists, because they are also killing unarmed civilians, which is the worst form of terrorism. UNQUOTE Quoting from Janes:232 QUOTE
229 230
http://www.policymic.com/articles/13452/why-us-drones-are-a-necessary-evil-for-pakistan https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/world/asia/12drone.html?_r=2 231 http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=162895 232 http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065926087
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM If media reporting is to be believed, the attacks carried out by Predator drones in Pakistan are killing nearly as many civilians as militants, violating the key tenet of the US military's counter-insurgency doctrine. While the reality on the ground may be very different, the drones are clearly alienating the Pakistani public and may be fuelling a terrorist backlash. UNQUOTE A memorandum of understanding has been signed by the USA and Pakistan, which lists stuff the USA is now prohibited from bringing into Pakistan. Drones are on that list.233 Pakistan military tells the CIA to get the hell out of Pakistan, because of the drone attacks, and other excesses.234 Quoting Death and Taxes, quoting Reuters: 235 QUOTE The Pakistan Human Rights Commission, said U.S. drone strikes killed at least 957 people in Pakistan in 2010 alone. Thousands have been killed in 300 drone strikes there since 2004, 20 percent of whom are believed to be civilians. UNQUOTE The US Ambassador to Pakistan has resigned, in part because of the Drones.236 Grievances about US drone attacks have made it to the Peshawar High Court.237 The Defense of Pakistan Council (DPC), and six other activist groups had filed suit asking that Pakistans agreement with the USA, approving these drone strikes be made public, to show what persons in Pakistans government had approved of this activity. They claimed that so far, around 277 attacks by the US pilotless aircraft had killed 1,680 people and injured 2,634 inside Pakistan. The defense ministry says there is no written agreement between Pakistan and the USA regarding these drone attacks, which Pakistan government believes are totally illegal and a human rights violation of international law. Quoting from Dawn Com Newspaper:238 QUOTE Deputy attorney general Mohammad Iqbal Mohmand told a bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth that the Pakistani government had condemned drone attacks inside the country several times, and a joint sitting of parliament had passed unanimous resolution against them, but the strikes by the US pilotless aircraft continued. UNQUOTE The court concluded that US drone attacks, inside Pakistan, are in violation of international laws, including the Geneva Convention.
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http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/71820-drones-weapons-of-mass-destruction-fbrnotifies-list-of-prohibited-us-cargo-.html 234 https://rt.com/usa/news/cia-ordered-pakistan/ 235 http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/184803/the-un-would-like-the-white-house-to-please-explain-allthe-drone-killings/ 236 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2012/jun/04/pass-notes-cameron-munter 237 http://dawn.com/2012/06/21/ministry-tells-court-no-agreement-on-drone-attacks/ 238 http://dawn.com/2012/06/21/ministry-tells-court-no-agreement-on-drone-attacks/
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Somalia Complications (2 July 25)

According to the Washington Post,239 a UN report240 has multiple grievances with US use of drones in Somalia: There is an embargo on weapons into Somalia, since 1992, with very specific exceptions, which US use of drones allegedly violates. One of the exceptions is for an African Union military force. There have been no exceptions made for US Special Operations forces and CIA, personnel or drones. The US supplied some drones to the African Union force, which would be covered by the exception. Drone operations are conflicting with safety of manned air flight in the area. QUOTING the Washington Post: U.N. officials describe several narrowly averted disasters in which drones crashed into a refugee camp, flew dangerously close to a fuel dump, and almost collided with a large passenger plane over Mogadishu, which was carrying 100 African Union soldiers. The United Nations said it had documented 64 unauthorized flights of drones, fighter jets or attack helicopters in Somalia since June 2011 . UNQUOTE
Yemen Blow Back (2 Sept 02) !

According to the Daily Star of Lebanon, June 29, 2012241: QUOTE Top foreign policy experts have warned U.S. President Barack Obama that his Yemen policy, steeled by lethal drone strikes on terror suspects, is not sustainable and could harm long-term U.S. security. In a letter fanning debate on U.S. policy toward a hot front in the campaign against Al-Qaeda, the experts said Wednesday that Yemenis perceived America as almost purely concerned with ruthless anti-terrorism operations. The letter was signed by 27 bipartisan experts under the auspices of the
Atlantic Council and the Project on Middle East Democracy.

UNQUOTE The US Foreign Policy Blog disputes the theory, of blow back, is valid in Yemen. 242
239
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-operations-over-somalia-pose-danger-toair-traffic-un-report-says/2012/07/24/gJQALvnf7W_story.html 240 http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N12/376/40/PDF/N1237640.pdf?OpenElement 241 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Jun-29/178662-drone-policy-in-yemenunsustainable-experts.ashx 242 http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137760/christopher-swift/the-drone-blowback-fallacy
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Press TV, of Iran,243 writes that Yemen government is complicit in US assassination drones. Heres Long War Journal chart of US drone strikes in Yemen,244 2002 thru 2012, which I imagine will get updated over time.
USA military droning (2 July 06) !

New York Times Magazine, July 6, 2012 reports: 245 QUOTE The United States has three different drone programs. The first is the publicly acknowledged program run by the Pentagon that has been operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The other two are classified programs run separately by the C.I.A. and the militarys Joint Special Operations Command, which maintain separate lists of people targeted for killing. UNQUOTE
International Law Concerns (2 July 09) # !

Many advocacy groups have expressed concern that military drones are a new kind of weapon outside the rules of war and civilized behavior, where some standards need to be established. Here is Christian Science Monitor246 story on USA reaction to UN report247 on targeted killing, not just drones. One UN official wants the US to publish what drone strikes have been made where, with what targets, and why.248 The USA is resisting this. In the 20th century, the USA has been very successful in exporting its standards of liberty and justice around the world, so US politicians should not be surprised, when the people, who have been taught those values, are protesting US violation of them. 249 Many people in the USA are upset with the apparent US policy of killing anyone anywhere in the world, with no accountability. 250 Jimmy Carter251 is one of the people denouncing this US policy. Quoting from the Guardian in Britain:252 QUOTE The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law which has endured since
243 244
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/06/28/248378/yemeni-govt-complicit-in-us-crimes/ http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/Yemen/code/Yemen-strike.php 245 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/magazine/the-drone-zone.html?_r=1&ref=magazine 246 http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0603/US-defends-unmanned-drone-attacksafter-harsh-UN-report 247 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.24.Add6.pdf 248 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/un-drone-investigation-us-dodgingquestions_n_1612704.html? 249 https://www.ireland.com/breaking-news/un-report-condemns-us-drone-strikes/662296 https://plus.google.com/u/0/100550489777532033150/posts/VeoYq68L249 https://plus.google.com/u/0/109220763275563718852/posts/TCZmZET7dct 250 http://www.newser.com/story/147967/who-care-about-leaks-problem-is-drone-policy-itself.html 251 http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/4fe8745eb1e35d8b74000001/jimmy-carter-savages-usforeign-policy-over-drone-strikes 252 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/21/drone-strikes-international-law-un?newsfeed=true
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM WW II, United Nations Christof Heyns, special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, has said. Christof Heyns told a conference in Geneva that President Obama's attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, carried out by the CIA, would encourage other states to flout long-established human rights standards. Heyns suggested some may even constitute "war crimes". A second UN rapporteur, Ben Emmerson QC, who monitors counterterrorism, announced he would be prioritizing inquiries into drone strikes. It is time, he said, to end the "conspiracy of silence" over drone attacks and "shine the light of independent investigation" into the process. The attacks, he noted, were not only on those who had been killed but on the system of "international law itself". The ACLU estimates that as many as 4,000 people have been killed in US drone strikes since 2002 in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Of those, a significant proportion were civilians. The numbers killed have escalated significantly since Obama became president. The USA is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or many other international legal forums where legal action might be started. It is, however, part of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where cases can be initiated by one state against another. UNQUOTE Also see what I have posted to chapters on: Maps; Statistics; and Pakistan.
US Gov Secrecy (2 June 22) !

Various groups feel the US government has an obligation to make public a list of the people they think they killed with the drones, and why, lists of people they plan to kill with them, and how they identified those people as killable. This is shaping up to a battle via FOIA and on other fronts. Here are some articles about that battle: European Phoenix253 Also see Advocacy Groups in chapter on Privacy Concerns.
Hacker and Malware Concerns (2 June 23) !

The US Treasury spends a small fortune to protect our currency, but yet people still manage to generate counterfeits which they are able to pass at various retail shops. This leads many people to wonder if identity documents issued by state government can ever be secure. Similarly, the US military, CIA, NSA, etc. spend an astronomical fortune on computer security, yet national secrets are constantly being breached and
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http://www.europeanphoenix.com/en/component/content/article/46-diritti-umani/1757-shamefulnumbers-that-obama-doesnt-reveal-drone-death-figures.html
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM leaked. This leads many people to wonder how reliable the security will be for drones operated by local police departments, and the information they gather. We have seen that there is a Future Shock254 with many people exposed to new technology, new applications, who become clueless about the implications. This shock can go in several directions. Some people are unable to do risk analysis. What is the probability associated with various different possible outcomes? We have seen it with Wall Street banks run by people who did not have any risk management, because they did not realize they needed risk management. This was done at institutions which gobbled up others in a merger frenzy, then all fall down. It has been a common problem with companies storing confidential data through the Internet, such as credit card info. We have seen a recurring standard: new bodies of info get accumulated, stored in an insecure manner, breached, and now many unauthorized people have access to very personal info about individuals doomed to become identity theft victims. Spy information to US military, from many sources, including drones, is overwhelming. They have to hire government contractors to process much of it. This in turn leads to concerns that these contractors security might not be as good as the places supplying them the data. There were reports of malware getting into US drone operations. We were told there was no risk of any enemy taking over the drone, or accessing their data. Then terrorist training camps were over-run by the military, and video was found, where obviously the enemy had been watching the feeds of info from drones, so they could see all the same info their operators could see. We were told there was no risk of any enemy taking over the drones. Then a drone crashed in Iran, and after a flurry of US gov denials of what happened, and statements by Iran technicians, it became evident that a drone had been hacked, told to return to its home base, its GPS and altitude sensors messed with to make it think that a particular Iran air base was its home base, which was actually in Afghanistan. So now Iran had that drone, reverse engineered it, and are manufacturing and deploying their own drones, based on the US design. Iran, as we know, is a major arms supplier to Syria, and the various anti-Israel groups like Hams and Hezbollah. Also see Venezuela in Where in World list. We can expect drones soon added to arms shipments to many enemies, which had not been using them so far. Iran is shaping up to be an extremely costly result of CIA doing regime change there, to remove benevolent leadership, and replace with the Shah..
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock
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Nightmare Scenarios (2 Jun 25) !

The Iran hack was using the resources of a major nation. Terrorist gangs have less resources, but in time tools will become readily available, for them to do their thing, hijacking drones and using them against home nation populations, of the governments now using drones against the terrorists. There is also a community of cyber professionals who can sometimes do much the same as a government can have done. Scary proliferation thought: How long until Terrorists have Drones as part of their arsenal of delivery mechanisms, providing them with cargo of a dirty bomb? A hell of a lot easier for them than hijacking a bunch of planes, like the 9/11 plot. With all the criticism of government military drone usage, CIA and military drone attacks are not on the same scale as someone seeking to use one to maximize damage. For example, are there oil tankers going thru the Suez Canal? Can a drone carry enough explosives to set one on fire? How long would that close the Suez Canal? How about Panama Canal, or St Lawrence Seaway. Do other shipping arteries have similar vulnerabilities? These things can be transported in the trunk of a car, launched by someone throwing it up, like a toy glider. I can imagine a terrorist gang operating one like a crop duster, where the dust is poison for our water supply, or agriculture. In fact, Japan is already using drones for crop dusting, so maybe someone could hijack one of them, replace the chemicals being delivered with something evil, or leave in place, just break into where they are stored, and change the chemicals. The bunch in Asia will most likely attack European targets first, because crossing ocean to America presents a few challenges. How about home-grown, of the OK City variety? If you believe US gov pronouncements: Pentagon & US military assets are under constant cyber assault. We suffer massive malware infections, breaches (stolen stuff), but not cyber hijacks, not yet. The Iran hijack was state sponsored. States can continue to do many things that individual terrorist gangs can not. Of course there is the issue of apparent malfunctions, how do you know? Also see my threads on Manchurian Chips where we go to lowest bidder, which could be that way because of ulterior motives. I do not believe private industry pronouncements because infinite declarations of safety later proven bogus. I believe it is a PR exercise to cover up notion that security is not considered mission critical in business, only to customers of business. But I believe that US government believes that security is mission critical for US military, so the issue there is the competence in implementing that. Pay scales and high security clearance requirements, and lowest bidders, and political mandates, make it very difficult to implement good cyber security for critical government infrastructure.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM If bad guys want their own drones, there is a much simpler way than hijacking a government drone. See my chapters on: Civilian Drones; Drones for Peace. However, not all potential enemies might know about these simpler alternatives. In fact some researchers are unaware also.255 Not in the news yet, but I expect any day now, drug smugglers could use this stuff. Drones are not just aerial, they are also under water. Terrorist attacks sometimes fail due to excessive complexity. The first WTC bombing was a truck packed with explosives wrapped around canisters of cyanide. What happened was all the cyanide got burned up in the explosion. What they wanted to happen was to poison a hell of a lot of people. Similarly, plots involving drones can be more complicated, more likely to fail, than simpler attacks, which can do more damage. Consider an ordinary car or truck, loaded with explosives, parked beside the support beams for a bridge or overpass associated with an interstate highway, timed to explode at rush hour. This is much easier to organize than a drone attack. I believe that to accomplish anything meaningful in this terrorist scenario of using drones to deliver nasty weapons, is to have a collection of people with a collection of different skills. When our enemy is under constant attack by various state's military, what is simplest for them to implement is that which requires the lowest volume of skills, or can be managed independently, such as one gang manufacturing their own drones, and another gang deploying them into combat. If you are going to hijack something, how about a Nuclear power plant,256 where a melt down could do serious damage to local infrastructure? After take over, but before melt down, dynamite the concrete containment structure, which contains the melt down, so that it can spill where excess damage. See ATC in Terminology chapter. Historically, hacking ATC is a heck of a lot easier than hacking a commercial airliner. However, that is changing. There is a system being developed and implemented. Let's suppose a commercial airliner is hijacked the old fashioned way. The military want to be able to take over the controls of that plane, and fly it by remote control, regardless of what the hijackers in the aircraft threaten, or do. This system of it being possible for US military to potentially take over any commercial aircraft, in flight, is another window for some unauthorized interests to seek to hack. If our enemy gets enough explosives to take down a bridge over the Mississippi River, or demolish the Sears Tower in Chicago, I think that conventional delivery by motor boat or automobile is much easier than packing it on a drone, and maneuvering it to the target.
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http://www.nationalterroralert.com/2012/06/25/drones-vulnerable-to-terrorist-hijacking-researchers-say/ http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/06/25/drones-vulnerable-to-terrorist-hijacking-researchers-say/ 256 http://www.nationalterroralert.com/2012/06/21/sweden-on-alert-explosives-found-near-nuke-plant/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM But the enemy need not be the ones delivering the fuel for an explosion. Our highways have lots of trucks carrying all sorts of cargo, clearly labeled what, for a variety of logical safety reasons. A drone packed with explosives could be flown kamikaze to crash into a fuel truck, or a gasoline retail station, or an oil tanker at a sea port, or an oil drilling pumping station, or a train carrying the stuff, or part of the oil pipeline from Alaska.
Drone Hijack Experiments (2 July 13) $ !

Experiments have been conducted to find out how difficult it is to hijack civilian drones. It is not difficult at all, as reported in many news media.257 According to Computer World, June 26, 2012:258 QUOTE The University of Texas at Austin's Radionavigation Laboratory demonstrated hacking a civilian drone, forcing it to change course by sending fake GPS signals, and then, as if some phantom has given the drone a self -destruct order, it hurtles toward the ground. At the last second, the drone was spared but Professor Todd Humphreys and his team were pleased. They had successfully proved a gaping hole in the governments plan to open US airspace to thousands of drones. Last week at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Humphreys and his team showed off hacking a drone for Homeland Security and FAA officials. The researchers repeatedly took control of a drone from a remote hilltop. The results were every bit as dramatic as the test at the UT stadium a few days earlier. UNQUOTE Iran claimed to have used this technique to bring down the drone, mentioned in the news some months ago. US military called that report nonsense. But here it is working on some other drones. Irans threat was to capture th e drone and reverse engineer the technology, rapidly catch up with what USA could do. The potential threat with what Professor Humphries has demonstrated, is that drones could be used as missiles against aircraft, buildings, critical infrastructure. In a Google Plus thread discussing Professor Humphries discoveries, and what this adds to the overall implications of what we know, my friend Jera Wolfe259 wrote:260 QUOTE
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Drone Hijack http://blogs.computerworld.com/security/20593/civilian-drones-vulnerable-hackers-can-be-hijacked-usedmissiles http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/aerospace/aviation/commercialdrones-and-gps-spoofers-a-bad-mix https://rt.com/usa/news/texas-1000-us-government-906/
http://rt.com/usa/news/texas-1000-us-government-906/
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http://blogs.computerworld.com/security/20593/civilian-drones-vulnerable-hackers-can-be-hijackedused-missiles 259 https://plus.google.com/u/0/101604758566835021293/about
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Using Drones is sounding more like leaving tanks and APC's running with the keys in them, in combat zones, and just going home and hoping they'll be there tomorrow when you come back... UNQUOTE I share his sentiment. This is deadly hardware, with infinite opportunities for mischief, being deployed by persons and agencies in denial of the risks. I replied to that thread: QUOTE Once upon a time, I had a SIG that compared the operation of a computer, without security, to be like leaving a gun on your front porch, just in case a passing mugger had need of one. Thousands of company executives are doing that, with the credit card info of their customers. It is the American way in modern times. UNQUOTE
GPS Hijack (2 July 10)

Drones navigate by using GPS. GPS = Global Positioning System. GPS is 1970s architecture, vulnerable to spoofing. According to Wired, July 6, 2012:261 QUOTE The rogue takeover exploited a vulnerability in GPS to take control of the drone. It was, by Humphreys accounting, the first time somebody proved a civilian drone could be hijacked. Last year, when the CIA lost a drone in Iran, there were reports indicating the Iranians might have launched a spoofing attack and tricked it into landing, but well never know for sure. Also, in September 2011, North Korea reportedly forced a U.S. spy plane to land with a jamming attack. The Global Positioning System, commonly referred to as GPS, is a spacebased satellite navigation system. Its what allows you to get turn -by-turn directions to the mini-mart in your automobile. But most people dont know that it also has countless other crucial applications. Among others, its the backbone of the global air traffic system. It is also used to control the power grid, to power banking operations (for instance, ATMs depend on it) and to keep oil platforms in position. And virtually all communications systems, like the worlds cellular networks, rely on it. The core problem is that weve got a GPS infrastructure which is based on a security architecture out of the 1970s, Scott tells Danger Room. From a security point of view, if you look at GPSs current status, is more or less equivalent to operating computers without firewalls, wi th no basic checks. Since its signals comes from satellites at very high altitude, GPS relies on very weak signals that are extremely vulnerable not only to spoofing attacks but
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https://plus.google.com/u/0/102237768047642940069/posts/3oreJzdYz3r http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/drone-hijacking/all/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM also to jamming the deliberate or accidental transmission of radio signals that interfere with regular communications. This weakness has already been exposed in a few incidents in the past. In late 2009, GPS receivers at Newark Airport were going down intermittently every day and no one understood why. It took two months to track down the source of the interference: a driver had installed in his truck an illegal GPS jammer which can easily be bought online for $50 so that his employer couldnt track his every move. In 2001, a boats television antenna preamplifier took out GPS over the entire harbor town of Moss Landing, just south of San Francisco, for weeks. UNQUOTE
Lawsuits and Secrecy (2 June 29)

There have been lawsuits filed in the USA, seeking info about US drone policy, which the US government claims is secret, while at the same time many government spokespersons often make announcements about what it is doing. Here is info about an ACLU case which the US government has been fighting.262 There are many lawsuits which can only be filed in Pakistan, on behalf of Pakistan citizens killed or maimed by drones, and by their surviving families. 263 Quoting from the Telegraph of Britain:264 QUOTE Lawyers for Pakistani student Noor Khan have brought legal proceedings against the UK Foreign Office after his father Malik Daud Khan was killed in an attack by an unmanned CIA drone in Pakistan last year. Mr Khan insists his father was innocent and the judicial review application could lead to the British Government having to reveal whether its intelligence officers provide the US with information to help target drones. UNQUOTE
Mixtures Military vs. Civilians in USA (2 July 07) !

Excess military hardware is being sold to US police, all over the nation.265
262
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/obama-administration-files-midnight-brief-defending-secrecysurrounding-targeted www.aclu.org/files/assets/https___ecf.nysd_.uscourts.gov_cgi-bin_show_temp.pl_file10176016-0-17573.pdf 263 http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/26/12403677-for-many-pakistanis-usa-meansdrones?chromedomain=worldblog 264 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9342396/Terror-watchdog-warns-of-wave-ofcompensation-claims-over-drone-strikes.html 265 http://www.dps.mo.gov/dir/programs/cjle/dod.asp
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Washington Note Blog July 6, 2012, and New York Times Magazine, report: USAF drone personnel, at Holloman Air Force Base, train by doing surveillance of civilian vehicles on US highways, specifically New Mexico.266 The blog Loss of Privacy reports that unarmed drones at Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND are being used for civilian surveillance.267 Posse Comitatus Act bars the military from taking a police role on U.S. soil. I asked, in a G+ discussion, if some particular use of military drones in USA, for police functions, was in violation of this act.268 Leonard Harris wrore: QUOTE It was repealed in by the "John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007." However my understanding is that the repeal was then repealed in 2008. So I don't think they can use these things against civilians, but government always ignores its own rules. UNQUOUE Here is news that the USAF can do civilian surveillance, then the police use the info, without needing a judges warrant.269
Civilian Drones (2 June 21) $ !

Hobbyists have long had access to radio controlled model aircraft, but drones are like a new and improved generation of an older technology. Ordinary people may buy kits to make their own serious drones for maybe $2k to $3k. But prices continue to drop. Here is a review of a drone we can buy for $299.00.270 The article, and comments, indicate that people are flying these things in total disregard of the new FAA regulations for such things in our skies. Here are some outfits in the business of supplying drones: DIY Drones271 Matter Net272 List of Drone Manufacturers, for which FAA has issued Airworthiness Certificates, according to EFF FOIA.273 There are also open source drones.274
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/usaf-drones-trail-civilia_b_1654483.html https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/magazine/the-drone-zone.html?_r=1&ref=magazine 267 http://www.lossofprivacy.com/index.php/2011/12/north-dakota-police-using-predator-spy-drones/ 268 https://plus.google.com/u/0/108007903544513887227/posts/PvVdjBbzdun 269 http://www.peachpundit.com/2012/07/07/debate-topic-limit-use-of-domestic-drones/ 270 https://mashable.com/2012/06/10/ar-drone-2-0-cool-fathers-day-gift/ 271 http://diydrones.com/ 272 http://matternet.net/ 273 https://www.eff.org/document/faa-list-special-airworthiness-certificates-experimental-categorysacs 274 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/ff_drones/
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Drones for Peace (3 Mar 03) !

Several thousand UAVs return to USA from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there's lots of articles and threads about how they can be constructively re-purposed. Due to their heavy usage in recent years for military purposes, many people lack imagination regarding peaceful applications.275 Surveillance can be done by police, protestors, journalists.276 Drones can help in agriculture.277 Producers want to monitor their crops, and cattle ranchers want to keep an eye on their herds, Consider this scenario. A home is being burglarized. The burglar alarm causes a drone to take off and photograph the crooks, what they are doing, perhaps follow them until the police arrive.278 The drone needs to be able to remain aloft, out of range of the crooks trying to cause it to crash. This is an example of an autonomous drone, without a human in the loop, telling it what to do. Robots can help in various disaster situations, where it is dangerous for humans to go.279 Drones are useful fighting wild fires.280 They can rapidly track hot spots. Drones can be used to map natural disasters to help co-ordinate rescue.281 There are other environmental applications.282 One company is considering a drone big enough to transport injured persons to where they can get medical treatment.283 I imagine that in a war zone, the combatants might be shooting at these things. This outfit wants to use the returning military drones for medical purposes.284 Some drones are already being used in non-militaristic applications. NGOs use drones to deliver medical supplies in hard to reach places where not even a human piloted helicopter can land. These medical rescue drones use helicopter type architecture, so they can land anywhere, where GPS works. Look at the illustration in
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http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/drone-could-track-elusive-maui-s-dolphins-4969727 http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/unl-wins-grant-for-journalism-droneproject/article_ab999636-0757-5d4c-b74b-f673d8029e6d.html http://opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/comments/drones-for-good/ 277 http://www.kfvs12.com/story/21418640/jackson-company-makes-drones-markets-to-farmers 278 http://afgeneralcounsel.dodlive.mil/2013/01/04/we-reap-what-we-drone/ 279 http://www.thedailysheeple.com/pentagon-wants-rescue-robots-built-in-time-for-the-next-naturaldisaster_112012 280 http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/26/tech/innovation/technology-fighting-fire/ 281 http://www.scribd.com/doc/86681294/Pakistan-Has-Drones-That-Save-Lives 282 Environmental applications: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3305&from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=f eed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsgsNewsroom+%28Newsroom+-+National+Releases%29 283 http://www.airdroneinc.com/robotic_surgeon.htm 284 http://gizmodo.com/5049606/uav-courier-pigeons-deliver-medical-supplies-sans-awkward-number-twos
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM this article.285 This is a drone design based on helicopter technology, already in use to deliver medical and other supplies in terrain which cannot be accessed by manned aircraft, because the terrain is too mountainous. http://matternet.net/ calls them Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (AAV) fast delivery of anything that fits in a tub; roads not required. Technically, not even an address is required, just GPS coordinates. Here is a case study of their use in Lesotho, 85% mountainous, sounds a bit like Haiti.286 Drones are being used in film-making.287 Some day, we may have food delivery, via something like this TacoCopter? 288 For people developing new technology on a shoe-string, here is one site to book mark:289
Drones spy on bad weather (2 Sep 13)

NASA has a couple drones monitoring hurricanes, to help grow our scientific understanding.290 NOAA291 has been using manned flight intermittently to look at hurricanes, but their capabilities are limited, compared to drones. The NASA drones are like a miniature satellite, immediately over a storm, making a broad spectrum of measurements, while the NOAA planes only see what is immediately around them, wherever in a storm they fly. Drones can remain aloft much longer than manned flight.292
Drone do-it-yourself hobby (2 Dec 29)

Every type of product has a do-it-yourself hobby,293 whose size varies according to the costs to get involved: regulatory legalities; economics. In my experience meeting computer hobbyists, ham radio enthusiasts, car lovers, etc. I believe there is a pride of ownership, and love of what people can do with their hardware investments. 294 If it is too cheap, it is not respected. If too expensive, not a lot of people can get into it.
285 286
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/27/predators_for_peace?page=full http://matternet.net/2011/08/22/lesotho/ 287 http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/loitering-theatre/ http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/03/us-usa-drones-domestic-idUSBRE92206M20130303 288 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=77pVJ41opJo 289 http://occupyapps.org/ 290 http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/nasa-hurricane-drone-explores-developing-storm14976?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+ Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed 291 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 292 http://www.climatecentral.org/news/nasa-drones-to-spy-on-hurricanes-study-storm-intensity14894?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+ Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed 293 https://plus.google.com/u/0/107040353898400532534/posts/fk8RXiVYAqT https://plus.google.com/u/0/107040353898400532534/posts/6ThwaeS7fPY 294 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/review-of-the-parrot-ar-2-0-drone/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM The US DoD organized a competition for this hobby, seeking new designs to help the military.295 Dragonfly Drone soon will be sold for the indoor market. 296
US Drone Industry (2 July 02)

Here is an article by RT, news from Russia in English,297 regarding US manufacturers of drones, seeking to sell them to nations all over the world. 298 Here is one by RT on this booming industry,299 and some concerns by people inside USA.300 Quoting from this link @ EFF,301 QUOTE According to a July 15, 2010 FAA Fact Sheet (pdf)302, [i]n the United States alone, approximately 50 companies, universities, and government organizations are developing and producing some 155 unmanned aircraft designs. According to one market research firm, approximately 70% of global growth and market share of unmanned aircraft systems is in the United States (pdf). In 2010 alone, expenditures on unmanned aircraft reached more than US $3 billion (pdf) and constituted a growth of more than 12%. The market for these systems is only expected to increase: over the next 10 years the total expenditure for unmanned aircraft is expected to surpass US $7 billion. And some have forecast that by the year 2018 there will be more than 15,000 [unmanned aircraft systems] in service in the U.S., with a total of almost 30,000 deployed worldwide. UNQUOTE AR Drone claims on Google Plus, that they are the first with various capabilities, which I have seen in past articles linked to other brand names. Of course I have no way of knowing who was really first.303 US Drone manufacturer AeroVironment, which also makes charging systems for electric vehicles, posted a 1% increase in profits as of end of its fiscal fourth quarter, reported June 2012.304 They make small hand held drones for the US Dept of Defense.
295 296
http://www.livescience.com/21330-drones-crash-military-contest.html http://www.techject.com/ https://plus.google.com/u/0/101604758566835021293/posts/jdfzpW32Udu 297 See chapter on reporter veracity concerns when news comes from a nation whose news media is not free, and there can be motivations to make USA look bad. 298 https://rt.com/news/us-drone-technology-turkey-938/ 299 http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle-UAV-Manufacturing-in3672590.php 300 https://rt.com/usa/news/drone-business-defense-million-422/ 301 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/drones-are-watching-you 302 http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/media/UAS_FACT_Sheet.pdf 303 https://plus.google.com/u/0/113709359626722191247/about 304 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aerovironment-earnings-20120627,0,1406282.story
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM According to the LA Times, June 27, 2012:305 QUOTE AeroVironment is the Pentagon's top supplier of small drones, which include the Raven, Wasp and Puma models. The company, which makes drones in its Simi Valley facilities, said quarterly revenue increased about 7% to $97.3 million, compared with $91 million for the same quarter last year. UNQUOTE This is not typical of other drone designs, but it may serve much of the same market place. According to Slate, June 27, 2012:306 QUOTE World Surveillance Group, the Florida-based manufacturer of the Argus One, revealed it has been holding high-level discussions with U.S. and international government agencies about its unmanned airships. The bizarre spy drone is capable of flying for days on end at heights of between 10,000 and 20,000 feet and can carry up to 30 pounds, including cameras and sensors. According to WSG, it is designed specifically for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and is virtually undetectable by radar, making it ideal for stealth use. The unusual shape, aside from making it resemble a giant floating sperm, helps it handle poor weather conditions. UNQUOTE An interesting question might be how much of drone manufacturing is actually in the country of the companies, and how much has been off-shored, since this is potentially out-sourced weapons manufacture. I have observed that corporate America often takes short cuts in implementing new opportunities, including neglecting to have lawyers and international specialists review contracts with foreign suppliers, placing themselves at risk of intellectual property theft, and quality control failures.307
Australia Domestic Droning (3 Feb 17)

The rules sound similar to near future in USA.308
Canada Domestic Droning (3 Jan 29)

According to The Province, Jan 27, 2013:309 Canadian police are using drones, including municipal police forces, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) which I think is like federal police.
305 306
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aerovironment-earnings-20120627,0,1406282.story
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/06/27/argus_one_drone_from_world_surveillance_group_.h tml 307 https://plus.google.com/u/0/108007903544513887227/posts/1mCq98crUDN 308 http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/privacy-fears-as-drones-move-into-mainstream20130217-2elcj.html

309
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Editorial+Rules+police+drones+need+established/7886205/story.html
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Europe Domestic Droning (3 Feb 01)

Here are incidents of drones used in different nations in Europe. 310 According to The Guardian newspaper, Jan 25, 2013 QUOTE311: Defense firms, police forces and fire services are among more than 130 organizations which have British government permission to fly small drones in UK airspace. Including multiple or expired licenses, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA http://www.caa.co.uk/) has granted approval to fly small UAVs more than 160 times. The CAA list shows that three police forces, Merseyside, Staffordshire and Essex, have permission to use UAVs, as do three fire services, Dorset, West Midlands and Hampshire. UNQUOTE Authorities in the USA, such as the FAA, are only concerned about safety of different kinds of craft sharing the skies, such as risk of drones (operating via GPS, and remote pilot) colliding with manned flight (operating via radar, and on-board pilot able to see all around). No one in USA has oversight for civil liberties of people whom drones might spy on, or whether data bases, of collected info, are subject to any cyber security best practices. Similarly British development parallels the USA. The CAA is concerned about health and safety issues, but civil liberties are not on their radar screen.
US Domestic Legal Droning (3 Feb 18) !

In a future split of Drone Notes, into smaller document chunks, I tentatively plan to have Drones USA which would contain the sections on where drones flying domestically in USA, and what legislation is being considered. There might also be similar smaller splits, for other nations. For drones to be over US skies, they need: FAA certification of the model of the drone, allowed in US airspace. FAA certification of the organization which is operating the drone(s). An FAA pilot license by the person who is operating a drone. Additional personnel in addition to the operator, to observe the drone and its surroundings, to advise the operator on collision avoidance. There may be secret military drone usage, covered by other regulations, or Kafkaesque (explained in Drone Terms).. Various sources have shared stories of how many certificates of authorization the FAA has issued for drones over USA, by certain dates, and between certain dates. In
310 311
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/07/201271872041648814.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/25/who-can-fly-drones-uk-airspace
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM combination, these stories cannot all be true, so I have recorded them in Drone Dates time line of what we think we knew when about what, to show how the allegedly official story fluctuates.. US Congress has directed FAA rule-making. Here312 is an article by The Washington Times, on The 2012 FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama signed, which also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015. Also see US legislation section. Info is in Drone Dates, when we should expect relevant FAA regulations. Also see US Gov GAO section, on some of the stumbling blocks facing the FAA.
FAA 2012 reports via EFF FOIA (2 Dec 11)

See my Drone Terms for what all these abbreviations and acronyms mean. In addition to what EFF has found from FAA via FOIA about specific organizations directly authorized to use drones for specific missions, there are also loaners by one agency to another, where the FAA authorization is to the loaning organization, without any report to FAA or anyone else about the loaned to scenario. Examples: An IG report found that CBP had been loaning its drones to many other federal agencies. Apparently DHS is loaning its drones to many local police agencies. 313 The April 2012 reports were amended with additional info from FAA to EFF in July 2012,314 so I will be updating my notes accordingly, as I find time to digest this input. Most of this info is as of April 2012, a snapshot in time, of a constantly changing reality. Here are details of the FOIA request, initiated January, 2012. 315 In December 2012, EFF got more info from FAA and provided updates to their data, so I sill be updating my links also.316 Here is a US map of locations of the places which asked FAA for permission to fly drones over the USA.317 Color Coding:318
312 313
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-near-you/?page=all http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/10/homeland-security-increasingly-loaning-drones-tol/ via http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/12/todays-headlines-and-commentary-325/ 314 July 2012 additional info from FAA to EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/26756?c=federal_agencies_legislative 315 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/drones-are-watching-you 316 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/newly-released-drone-records-reveal-extensive-military-flightsus
317
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214769660919529725423.0004bde31d74fe6eb1ece&hl= en&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=45.336702,-110.039062&spn=58.987964,112.5&z=3&source=embed
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Red Active; Blue Expired; Yellow Denied.
Here are public entities which applied to the FAA for drone approvals, over USA, which EFF found out about, thanks to FOIA.319 When I cut & pasted from the list, I lost the formatting. The last word on each line is the status of their FAA application: Active Expired Denied
U.S. Air Force Active Arlington Police Department Active U.S. Army Active CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) Expired City of Herington, Kansas Active City of Houston, TX Police Department Expired City of North Little Rock, AR Police Department Active Cornell University Expired DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Active DHS (Department of Homeland Security) / CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Active DHS (Department of Homeland Security) / Science and Technology Active DOE (Department of Energy) - Idaho National Laboratory Active DOE (Department of Energy) - National Energy Technology Laboratory Expired Department of Agriculture - US Forest Service Disapproved Department of Agriculture - US Forest Service Expired Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service Disapproved Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service Active Department of the Interior - National Business Center/Aviation Management Directorate (NBC/AMD) Active DOJ (Department of Justice) - Queen Anne's County Office of the Sheriff Expired Eastern Gateway Community College Active FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Active Gadsden Police Department Active Georgia Tech Police Department, Office of Emergency Preparedness Disapproved Georgia Tech Research Institute Active Hays County Emergency Service Office Expired Kansas State University Active Mesa County Sheriff's Office Active Miami-Dade Police Department Active Middle Tennessee State University Active Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Active Mississippi State University Active Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Expired
318
This info is as of April 2012. I am sure some places status will have since changed with the FAA, and there will be new places which have applied for this status since this info to EFF via FOIA. 319 See Terminology section, if any of those acronyms are unfamiliar to you. https://www.eff.org/document/faa-list-certificates-authorizations-coas
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NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Active U.S. Navy Active New Mexico Tech Active New Mexico State University Physical Sciences Laboratory (NMSU-PSL) Active Nicholls State University Expired NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Expired Ogden Police Department Active Ohio University Active Orange County Sheriff's Office Active Otter Tail County Disapproved Polk County Sheriff's Office Active Seattle Police Department Active Texas A&M University Corpus Christi Active Texas A&M University - TEES (Texas Engineering Experiment Station) Active Texas Department of Public Safety Expired Texas State University Active University of Alaska Fairbanks Active University of Arizona Expired University of Colorado Active University of Connecticut Active University of Florida Active University of Michigan Expired University of North Dakota Active University of Wisconsin Expired USMC (United States Marine Corps) Active Utah State University Active Virginia Commonwealth University Expired Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Active Washington State Department of Transportation Expired
Here are private entities which applied to the FAA for drone approvals, over USA, which EFF found out about, thanks to FOIA.320 These are drone manufacturers, which need to conduct testing.
AAI CORP AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORP BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC BLACKWATER AIRSHIPS LLC CYBER DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES INC GENERAL ATOMICS AERO SYST INC HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL L-3 BAI AEROSYSTEMS RAYTHEON COMPANY TELFORD AVIATION INC UNMANNED SYSTEMS INC
Here is more perspective, and links, on the EFF FOIA against FAA. 321
320 321
https://www.eff.org/document/faa-list-special-airworthiness-certificates-experimental-categorysacs https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/faa-releases-its-list-drone-certificates-leaves-many-questionsunanswered
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Court rulings on Police Droning (2 Aug 27)

I had heard of several prior rulings, before I stumbled over this article, and needed a place to put it. According to RT (News in English, published in Russia), Aug 3, 2012, QUOTE A North Dakota court has approved the use of drones to help arrest citizens on US soil. UNQUOTE In time, I may find again, some of the other rulings I vaguely remember, and add them to this section.
Where in the USA? (3 Mar 31)

Footnotes link to stories about drones being used various places in USA. 322
As I add to this directory, I need to identify city-county-state, where practical. I got a lot of data thanks to EFF FOIA with FAA, but over time there is a trickle of news stories about drones being used various places in USA, which were NOT on the FAA lists delivered to EFF, then pursued for more info by Muck Rock.323 We can explain this as follows: There is a huge lag in time between FAA issuing a drone license, then informing EFF. It is possible the news story is about some outfit which got such a license since the FAA made a list available to EFF. There are types of drone activity not covered by FAA requirements, such as radio control model aircraft for hobbyist purposes, in certain air space. It is possible the news story is about such a non-commercial exception. Prior to Congress passing mandate for FAA to re-write the regulations for unmanned vehicles in US airspace, it was entirely legal to do various kinds of aerial photography, such as by real estate companies and movie-makers. When new laws and regulations get passed, our nation does not do a good job of informing people engaged in the activities which were legal, but are now banned, so many of those activities continue until the FAA finds out and tries to shut them down. There are also scofflaws who refuse to acknowledge that the government has a right to regulate this activity. There are also people truly ignorant. They get a toy for children, which is legal to operate indoors, but not outdoors, but the manufacturer packaging does not warn the consumer of this reality. Is there any conflict between Federal State Local laws, with respect to what is allowed with drones? Federal agencies help local police invest in drones, then state and local governments ban what the police planned to use them for. States say
322 323
2012 April Status refers to FAA data via FOIA to EFF. EFF = Electronic Freedom Foundation FAA = Federal Aviation Administration FOIA = Freedom of Information Act https://www.muckrock.com/drone-census/ https://www.muckrock.com/foi/list/user-DroneWatch/ = List of places in USA found to have drones, then been issued a FOIA request seeking info on what they are being used for, info they should have already shared with FAA, so it should not be a big deal to make a copy.
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certain behaviors banned in their territories. Does this have any effect on federal authorities?324
US Cities with Drones (3 Feb 26)

This chapter is other than police, which have their own chapter below. As I correlate city-county, I plan to adjust these lists accordingly.
Atlanta Georgia325 Baltimore Maryland326 Chicago Illinois327

Fairbanks Alaska, University of328
Grand Forks, North Dakota the third largest city in the state hosts a domestic training facility for the militarys unmanned aerial vehicles, as of October 2012. 329
Herington, Kansas330 Los Angeles California has a local ordinance requiring permits for filming
commercial motion pictures and still photographs, whether taken by manned or unmanned aircraft.331 Oakland CA332
Portland Maine333 San Diego California has a major manufacturer of Drones.334 Steubenville Ohio, Eastern Gateway Community College335
324
http://www.policymic.com/articles/28021/domestic-drones-would-cause-major-rift-between-federalstate-governments 325 http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/05/31/the-first-hints-of-flying-drones-in-metroatlanta/ 326 http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bs-ae-drones-20120831,0,1776143.story 327 To see Video of the Drone over Chicago -Click here- the drone footage starts about the 3:00 minute mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HFeD3zp8WI http://www.cryptocomb.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:drone-overchicago&catid=3:newsflash 328 2012 April Active 329 https://rt.com/usa/news/predator-north-dakota-ground-243/ 330 Herrington Kansas = 2012 April Active, more info 2012 July: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 331 Los Angeles local ordinance = filming from the sky. Improved Link: http://photographyforrealestate.net/2012/01/24/warning-faa-says-us-airspace-is-closed-to-all-commercial/ Original Link: https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=FAA+Drones&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:enUS:official&client=firefoxa#hl=en&gs_nf=1&gs_mss=FAA%20RC%20c&tok=RHeIkD90ELRqMb96McRDFQ&pq=faa%20rc&cp =19&gs_id=58x&xhr=t&q=FAA%20RC%20class%20action&pf=p&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:enUS%3Aofficial&sclient=psyab&oq=FAA+RC+class+action&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=c7f7f8afc38 32c0b&biw=1429&bih=719 332 http://www.copblock.org/27421/drone-spotted-hovering-above-neighborhood-in-west-oakland/ 333 http://www.pressherald.com/news/aerial-photos-by-drone-may-test-faa-rule_2012-09-15.html 334 http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/aug/16/drones-are-controversial-profitable-san-diego/ 335 Eastern Gateway = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records
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Washington DC336
Police by US City with Drones (3 Feb 26)

As I correlate city-county, I plan to adjust these lists accordingly. Arlington Police Department337 Boston Massachusetts, via Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, a group of more
than 40 police departments in the western suburbs of Boston, 338

Gadsden339 Police Department340 Grand Junction Colorado, Mesa County Sheriff's Office,341 Houston, TX Police Department342 Little Rock North, AR Police Department343 Miami-Dade, FL Police Department344 New York City Police Department345 Oakland, Alameda County, California, Police Department346 Ogden347 Police Department348 San Diego Sheriff Office.349 Seattle, WA Police Department350
336
Washington DC http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/09/drone-lost-in-skies-over-washington-d-c-neighborhood/ http://dcist.com/2012/09/faa_grounds_amateur_drone.php 337 Arlington Texas? 2012 April Active 338 https://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/10/20/drone-aircraft-adapted-from-military-uses-coming-skiesnear-you/h1rQ29NYRYwh0o6AIeOqDN/story.html Authorities in Ogden, Utah, are using drones as "floating
surveillance blimps" http://newsok.com/article/3758662

339 340
Gadsden Alabama?
2012 April Active 341 2012 April Active 342 2012 April Expired *police in Houston Texas are using drones to issue traffic tickets.* http://newsok.com/article/3758662 343 North Little Rock = 2012 April Active, more info 2012 July: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 344 Miami Dade = 2012 April Active, more info 2012 July: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records Info direct from Miami-Dade: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/miami-dade-pd-releases-information-about-its-drone-program-willfaa-follow-suit http://www.scribd.com/doc/101485474/Miami-Dade-PD-Email-Regarding-Drone-Program http://www.scribd.com/doc/101485471/Miami-Dade-PD-Drone-Certificate-of-Authorization
345
https://rt.com/usa/news/new-york-uav-drone-828/ link located thanks to alias inkhorn on G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/103028459671171670815/posts/QQkPkLoZjGg 346 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alameda-County-sheriff-seeks-drone-to-fight-crime-3965122.php 347 Ogden Utah? 348 Ogden = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 349 http://www.copblock.org/23944/san-diego-sheriffs-department-to-obtain-drones/ 350 Seattle WA = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info:
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US Counties with Drones (2 Oct 19)

As I correlate city-county-state, I plan to adjust these lists accordingly. Hays County, TX Emergency Service Office351 Otter Tail County,352 MN
Police by US County with Drones (3 Mar 03)

As I correlate city-county-state, I plan to adjust these lists accordingly. Alameda County, Oakland California, Police Department353 Queen Anne's County Office of the Sheriff354 Dade (Miami) Florida355
Grand Forks County Sheriff's Department356
Mesa County Sheriff's Office,357 Grand Junction Colorado, has been using drones to spy on citizens, at least since 2009. Montgomery County Sheriff's Office,358 in E-SE Texas, is allegedly getting a
weaponized drone.359
Orange County360 Sheriff's Office361 Polk County, FL Sheriff's Office362
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019526462_drones26m.html?prmid=4939 http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/stage-set-for-battle-over-domesticdrones/32e3d9651a6460d7240209dda97eb26a.html http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-backlash-against-drones-20130221 351 2012 April Expired 352 2012 April Disapproved 353 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alameda-County-sheriff-seeks-drone-to-fight-crime-3965122.php http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/california-drones/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/02/alameda-drone-deployment/ http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/26/5216897/drones-technology-raise-new-privacy.html
354 355 356
Queen Anne's County Office of the Sheriff arranged thru DOJ (Department of Justice)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/101485474/Miami-Dade-PD-Email-Regarding-Drone-Program http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/N-Dakota-to-study-ethics-of-using-aerial-drones-4057043.php 357 Mesa 2012 April Active https://rt.com/usa/news/drone-surveillance-mesa-colorado-433/ http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/03/us-usa-drones-domestic-idUSBRE92206M20130303 358 2012 April Expired. See testimony of Montgomery County, Texas Sheriff Office on Panel II of Congress House Transcript Drones in USA Skies 2012 July Abstract Summary = http://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=719102 Full 865k Transcript = https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=719102 This info has been summarized in drone statistics section of Drone Notes see Financial Alternatives. https://plus.google.com/u/0/108609031221581881497/posts/4NnNFFZ2p7Y http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/16/drone-gives-texas-law-enforcement-birds-eye-view-on-crime/ 359 See chapters on non-lethal killing, and weaponized drones for police. Also: http://www.tgdaily.com/security-brief/63600-the-weaponization-of-domestic-drones 360 Orange County California? Or Florida 361 2012 April Active Orange County Florida sheriff office http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/orange-county-sheriffs-office-adds-2-drones-high-t/nTppf/
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US States with busiest airports (2 July 19)

Within rules for model aircraft (see Drone Dimensions section), they are not to be flown within 5 miles of an airport, which is currently active (some General Aviation airports shut down when they have no traffic). The rules apparently vary per airport, due to the size of the holding pattern above. Think of a mushroom in the sky, where the stalk is immediately over the airport property, and the big part up there is where the planes circle to get their turn to land, under direction of ATC in accordance with ICAO standards. Drones and model aircraft need to stay away from the mushroom. Class B Airspace (See Airspace in Terminology) are the mushrooms over the busiest airports, with highest density of aircraft. The mushroom is really an upside down pyramid, with higher floors which spread out over a wider area. Sometimes there are multiple airports in a metropolitan area, where the mushroom shape expands to sort out which air traffic is for which ariprot. Arizona:
PHX/KPHX Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
California:

LAX/KLAX Los Angeles International NKX/KNKX Marine Corps Air Station Miramar SAN/KSAN San Diego International Lindbergh Field SFO/KSFO San Francisco International
Colorado:
DEN/KDEN Denver International
Florida:

MCO/KMCO Orlando International MIA/KMIA Miami International TPA/KTPA Tampa International
Georgia:
ATL/KATL Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Hawaii:
362
HNL/PHNL Honolulu International
2012 April Active
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Illinois:
ORD/KORD Chicago O'Hare International
Kentucky:
CVG/KCVG Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Louisiana:
MSY/KMSY Louis Armstrong New Orleans International
Maryland:

ADW/KADW Andrews Air Force Base BWI/KBWI Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Massachusetts:
BOS/KBOS General Edward Lawrence Logan International (Boston)
Michigan:
DTW/KDTW Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County
Minnesota:
MSP/KMSP Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain
Missouri:

MCI/KMCI Kansas City International STL/KSTL Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Nevada:
LAS/KLAS Las Vegas McCarran International
New Jersey:
EWR/KEWR Newark Liberty International
New York:

JFK/KJFK John F. Kennedy International LGA/KLGA New York LaGuardia
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North Carolina:
CLT/KCLT Charlotte/Douglas International
Ohio:
CLE/KCLE Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Pennsylvania:

PHL/KPHL Philadelphia International PIT/KPIT Pittsburgh International
Tennessee:
MEM/KMEM Memphis International
Texas:

DFW/KDFW Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport HOU/KHOU William P. Hobby Airport (Secondary Class B Airport) IAH/KIAH George Bush Intercontinental (Houston)
Utah:
SLC/KSLC Salt Lake City International
Virginia:

DCA/KDCA Ronald Reagan Washington National IAD/KIAD Washington Dulles International
Washington:
SEA/KSEA Seattle-Tacoma International
US States with Drones and/or Drone Laws proposed (3 Apr 04)

US borders with Mexico, Canada, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, have Customs 363 and Border Protection (CBP) drones patrolling those areas. 23 states itemized below, as of 2013 Feb 06. 11+ states are considering legislation, over police use of drones, per this article.364
363 364
http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2012/OIG_12-85_May12.pdf http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/
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For those interested in the status of state drone legislation, the ACLU is trying to maintaining an up-to-date tally of state legislative efforts on their Free Future blog here.365 As of the end of February 2013, they were tracking this info on over 20 US states. Here is UAV World directory of US State Legislative Bills on Drones, and various Court Decisions on Drones. 366 Alabama367 Alaska, University of.368 Fairbanks Arizona369 CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection)370 California legislators371 California, Orange County372 Sheriff's Office373 California, Monterey weather scientists374 Colorado,375 Mesa County Sheriff's Office,376 Grand Junction Florida377 Georgia, Atlanta378
Hawaii, US Army379 Idaho380

365
ACLU drone legislation by US state.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/status-domestic-drone-legislation-states
https://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-nationalsecurity/drone-legislation-whats-being-proposed-states 366 http://hse-uav.com/uav_legislation_bills.htm
367
Alabama
http://www.techpolicy.com/Privacy-SideDronesSurveillance-withRyanCalo.aspx Drones were used in a kidnapping case, and Army drone center is there. https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=alabama+nomby&src=typd 368 2012 April Active 369 Arizona is on ACLU directory
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/panel-oks-requiring-warrant-before-drones-gatherevidence/article_33705f1a-060c-5fc1-90d8-718a8883d1ed.html 370 2012 April Expired 371 California is on ACLU directory
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ 372 Orange County California? 373 2012 April Active 374 http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_21819192/monterey-scientists-analyze-hurricane-data-nasa 375 http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/ 376 2012 April Active 377 Florida is on ACLU directory
http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/43172605458/nebraska-committee-startled-by-drone-testimony 378 http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/05/31/the-first-hints-of-flying-drones-in-metroatlanta/ 379 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/robotic-aircraft-public-safety/ 380 Idaho is on ACLU directory
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Illinois,381 Chicago382 Iowa383 Maine384 Maryland385 Massachusetts386
Minnesota, Otter Tail County387 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources388 Missouri legislator wants police to get a warrant before using a drone to spy on people.389 Montana390 Nebraska391
http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/ http://www.ktvb.com/news/Idaho-Power-uses-drones-to-find-salmon-in-the-Snake-189476611.html 381 Illinois is on ACLU directory
http://www.techpolicy.com/Privacy-SideDronesSurveillance-withRyanCalo.aspx http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-state-lawmaker-proposes-law-to-regulate-drones20130224,0,2501215.story 382 To see Video of the Drone over Chicago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HFeD3zp8WI http://www.cryptocomb.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:drone-overchicago&catid=3:newsflash 383 http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130129/NEWS01/301290021/Group-working-ban-city-fromusing-drones?nclick_check=1 384 Maine is on ACLU directory
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/maine-should-pass-rules-for-police-use-of-drones_2013-01-27.html http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ http://www.aclu.org/national-security-technology-and-liberty/aclu-maine-calls-limits-drone-surveillance 385 http://www.techpolicy.com/Privacy-SideDronesSurveillance-withRyanCalo.aspx 386 Massachusetts is on ACLU directory
387 388
2012 April Disapproved Mississippi Dept of Marine Resources = 2012 April Active, July 2012 more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 389 Missouri is on ACLU directory
https://rt.com/usa/news/missouri-drone-surveillance-us-579/ http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more http://gatewayjr.org/2013/02/05/lawmaker-concerned-about-using-drones-to-collect-news/ 390 Montana is on ACLU directory
http://watchdog.org/67428/opposing-parties-groups-unite-as-drone-warfare-comes-to-state-capitols/ http://www.techpolicy.com/Privacy-SideDronesSurveillance-withRyanCalo.aspx http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ 391 Nebraska is on ACLU directory
http://reason.com/24-7/2013/01/24/nebraska-lawmaker-targets-police-drone-u http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/
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New Hampshire392 New York393 North Dakota394 Predator Drone used to facilitate arrest in a June 2011 cattle dispute,395 via DHS loan-a-drone,396 may lead to legislative action.397 Ohio, Steubenville, Eastern Gateway Community College398 Oklahoma legislators399 Oklahoma asked FAA for 80 miles airspace waiver400 I am unsure of context. Oklahoma, Fort Sill,401 DHS + Dod Oregon402 Fish and Wildlife studies.403
http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/43172605458/nebraska-committee-startled-by-drone-testimony http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/34363827984/how-we-used-a-drone-to-cover-drought 392 New Hampshire http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130228/NEWS06/130229030 A law to ban photographing from sky unless you own the property being photographed, or you work for the government. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/03/01/153241/texas-declares-war-on-robots 393 http://politicker.com/2013/03/assemblyman-to-introduce-legislation-limiting-drones-in-new-york/ 394 North Dakota is on ACLU directory
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/75855/ https://rt.com/usa/news/predator-north-dakota-ground-243/ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ 395 http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2012/08/court-approves-first-use-of-drone-by-local-police-toarrest-man.php 396 http://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/2013/01/06/homeland-security-quietly-runs-%E2%80%9Cloana-drone%E2%80%9D-program-for-local-law-enforcement/ 397 http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/572130/Regulating-the-use-ofdrones.html?nav=5614 398 Eastern Gateway = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 399 Oklahoma is on ACLU directory
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ NewsOK (Feb 24) - "Oklahomans concerned about unmanned aircraft attend state Capitol Rally" by Michael McNutt: http://newsok.com/article/3758662 https://twitter.com/MichaelMcNuttOK "Privacy is a nonpartisan issue" said [Amie] Stepanovich [of the Electronic Privacy Information Center], whose Washington, D.C.-based group is a public research center. "It's for all of us."" https://twitter.com/astepanovich
https://twitter.com/EPICprivacy
400 401
http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/drone-privacy-catalyst http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/robotic-aircraft-public-safety/ 402 Oregon is on ACLU directory
http://watchdog.org/67986/or-regulation-vs-privacy-lawmakers-to-debate-drones/ http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ Oregon SB71 - "Imposes restrictions on drones by private parties and public entities": http://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2013/SB71/ http://bit.ly/WEfdFI
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Pennsylvania404 South Carolina405 Tennessee406 Texas,407 Hays County Emergency Service Office408 Virginia is considering legislation restricting use of unmanned aircraft over their state.409 While intended to protect against violations of privacy by surveillance efforts, such laws can also restrict innocent use by hobbies, movie makers, childrens toys. See RC chapters in Drone Dimensions section. Washington State410 Department of Transportation411
403 404
http://www.kval.com/news/local/Drone-to-monitor-bird-nests-on-Oregon-Coast-163436466.html Pennsylvania is on ACLU directory South Carolina is on ACLU directory Tennessee is on ACLU directory Texas is on ACLU directory
405
406
407
https://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/status-domestic-drone-legislation-states A law to prohibit photographs from the sky, without permission of whoever property being photographed.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/03/01/153241/texas-declares-war-on-robots http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/privacy-and-drones http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-usedrones-by-police/ The Texas Tribune (Feb 4) - "Lege Could Ban Drone Surveillance of Private Property": http://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/04/lege-could-ban-dronesurveillance-private-property/ Here's the bill: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=H B912 *police in Houston Texas are using drones to issue traffic tickets.*
http://newsok.com/article/3758662
408 409
2012 April Expired Virginia Legislation: is on ACLU directory
http://wamu.org/news/13/02/22/virginia_senate_passes_two_year_moratorium_on_drones http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-virginia-and-del-todd-gilbert-propose-legislation-regulateunmanned-aerial http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/states-propose-limiting-use-drones-by-police/ http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2012/07/12/states-looking-to-regulate-uas/ http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/node/645535 http://watchdog.org/67411/one-virginia-city-fights-back-against-drones/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/28/va-delegate-seeks-curbs-on-use-of-drones-in-state/ http://www.lawfareblog.com/2013/02/todays-headlines-and-commentary-370/ 410 Washington is on ACLU directory
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/22/172696814/as-police-drones-take-off-washington-state-pushes-back 411 2012 April Expired
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Police by US State with Drones (2 Oct 21)

Alabama, Gadsden412 Police Department413 Arkansas, North Little Rock Police Department414 California,415 Oakland, Alameda County, Police Department416 Florida, Miami-Dade Police Department417 Florida, Polk County Sheriff's Office418 Georgia Tech Police Department, Office of Emergency Preparedness419 Massachusetts, unspecified which SWAT420 Texas, Arlington Police Department421 Texas Department of Public Safety422 Texas, Houston Police Department423 Texas, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office424 is getting a weaponized drone.425
Texas Navy patrols Mexico border.426

Utah, Ogden427 Police Department428 Washington, Seattle Police Department429
US Universities and Colleges with Drones (3 Mar 18)

When I have good idea what cities have the campuses, where the drones may be operating, then I tentatively plan to copy these listings to above directory by city. Alaska, University of, Fairbanks430 Arizona, University of431 Colorado, University of432
412 413
Gadsden Alabama?
2012 April Active 414 2012 April Active

415
http://www.dronejournalismlab.org/post/42042217053/update-nine-states-looking-to-restrict-uav-use-more 416 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alameda-County-sheriff-seeks-drone-to-fight-crime-3965122.php 417 2012 April Active 418 2012 April Active 419 2012 April Disapproved 420 https://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/10/20/drone-aircraft-adapted-from-military-uses-coming-skiesnear-you/h1rQ29NYRYwh0o6AIeOqDN/story.html 421 Arlington Texas? 2012 April Active 422 Texas Dept of Public Safety = 2012 April Expired, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records An update quoting directly from the Texas Dept of Public Safety: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/texas-department-public-safety-cancels-its-drone-program 423 2012 April Expired 424 2012 April Expired 425 See chapters on non-lethal killing, and weaponized drones for police. 426 Texas gunboats patrol the Rio Grande. http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/11990-texas-deploys-gunboats-to-patrol-rio-grande 427 Ogden Utah? 428 2012 April Active 429 2012 April Active 430 2012 April Active 431 2012 April Expired 432 2012 April Active
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Connecticut, University of433 Cornell University434 Eastern Gateway Community College, Steubenville Ohio435 Florida, University of436 Georgia Tech Police Department, Office of Emergency Preparedness437 Georgia Tech Research Institute438 Kansas State University439 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)440 Michigan, University of441 Middle Tennessee State University442 Mississippis Hinds Community College (HCC)443 Mississippi State University444 Missouri, U of.445 Nebraska, U of446 New Mexico Tech447 New Mexico State University Physical Sciences Laboratory (NMSU-PSL)448 Nicholls State University449 North Dakota, University of450
Ohio University451 Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, offers a three-semester technical certificate which focuses on mission planning, data management, and drone maintenance to help graduates land an entry-level job in the
433
U of Connecticut = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 434 Cornell = 2012 April Expired, more info 2012 July: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 435 Eastern Gateway = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 436 U of Florida = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 437 2012 April Disapproved 438 2012 April Active 439 2012 April Active 440 MIT is not on the directory of institutions authorized by FAA to be flying drones in US NAS. However, we are seeing many articles about their work with drones, detailed in the Technology Advances chapter, such as: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/autonomous-robotic-plane-flies-indoors-0810.html 441 2012 April Expired 442 2012 April Active 443 http://www.sunherald.com/2012/09/01/4159811/hinds-community-college-gets-drone.html 444 2012 April Active 445 http://www.fastcompany.com/3006192/drones-go-journalism-school http://gatewayjr.org/2013/02/05/lawmaker-concerned-about-using-drones-to-collect-news/ 446 http://www.fastcompany.com/3006192/drones-go-journalism-school 447 2012 April Active 448 2012 April Active 449 2012 April Expired 450 U of ND = 2012 April Active, and http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/for-civilian-drones-the-sky-is-the-limit/ also http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/majoring-in-drones-higher-ed-embraces-unmanned-aircraft/ 451 Ohio University = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM unmanned aircraft industry. The school also offers one and two-day workshops on topics like: current drone law; and applying for flight 452 authorization through the FAA.
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi453 Texas A&M University - TEES (Texas Engineering Experiment Station)454 Texas State University455 Utah State University456 Virginia Commonwealth University457 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University458 Wisconsin, University of459
US Federal with Drones (2 Dec 19)

Agricultural Research Service460 Aviation Management Directorate of National Business Center/ (NBC/AMD)461 CBP (Customs and Border Protection)462 UAS missions for CBP are launched and
recovered from National Air Security Operation Centers (NASOCs) in Sierra Vista, Arizona; Corpus Christi, Texas; Cocoa Beach, Florida; and Grand Forks, North Dakota.463
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) DHS (Department of Homeland Security)464 / Science and Technology FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Idaho National Laboratory465
452 453
http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/majoring-in-drones-higher-ed-embraces-unmanned-aircraft/ 2012 April Active 454 Texas A&M TEES = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 455 Texas State U = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 456 Utah State U = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 457 2012 April Expired 458 Virginia Tech = 2012 April Active, 2012 July more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records also http://hamptonroads.com/node/671687 and http://inthecapital.com/2013/03/18/virginia-tech-uses-six-drones-for-research-controlling-the-unmannedaerial-systems-by-remote-control/ 459 2012 April Expired
460
Agricultural Research Service is in USDA (Department of Agriculture), more info July 2012: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 461 AMD of NBC is in Department of the Interior 462 CBP is in DHS (Department of Homeland Security)
463 464
http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2012/OIG_12-85_May12.pdf DHS increasing drone fleet from 10 to 24 say these articles, ignorant of all the agencies within DHS which also have drones. https://rt.com/usa/news/dhs-drone-surveillance-napolitano-156/ http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/item/13714-dhs-inks-$443-million-deal-to-buy-more-drones http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/item/13714-dhs-inks which I say on G+ I consider very misleading https://plus.google.com/u/0/107928046826592402437/posts/jHEWSf8QbFv also see CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) in Drone Terms.
465
Idaho National Laboratory is in DOE (Department of Energy); more info 2012 July:
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National Energy Technology Laboratory466 NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) US Air Force467 US Forest Service468 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)469 U.S. Marine Corps470 U.S. Navy I had thought that permission / license from FAA was needed to fly anything in the US National Air Space (NAS), which does not include indoors. But there is another exception, over US military bases, and any other air space set aside for military usage. In that area, military permission would be needed. EFF says, Dec 5, 2012: QUOTE
The U.S. military doesnt need an FAA license to fly drones over its own military bases (these are considered restricted airspace), it does need a license to fly in the national airspace (which is almost everywhere else in the US). And, as weve learned from these records, the Air Force and Marine Corps regularly fly both large and small drones in the national airspace all around the country.
UNQUOTE
Police similar surveillance (2 Oct 19) !

Police now have manned spy planes,471 in Texas, Phoenix, Los Angeles.
Drone Safety Concerns (2 Sep 18) !

We already have very crowded skies, but general manned aviation has good technology for aircraft to detect each other in close proximity. Drones operate in a different universe. Manned aircraft avoid mutual collision by means of radar systems, and the pilots having a panoramic eyeball view of the skies around them, in cockpits designed to facilitate this. Drones avoid mutual collision by means of GPS based systems, and a remote pilot having a very limited view of what could be seen from the drone. Risk of collision is higher with both operating in same airspace, using the different systems.472
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records
466
467 468 469 470
National Energy Technology Laboratory is in DOE (Department of Energy)

http://www.technewsdaily.com/15815-military-drones-prowl-skies.html
US Forest Service is in USDA (Department of Agriculture)
http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/UAS/ http://www.technewsdaily.com/15815-military-drones-prowl-skies.html 471 http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/10/spy-planes-domestic/ 472 http://theaviationist.com/2012/02/14/drones-us/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM While the government may have been aware of the risks, or just failed to connect the dots, more info is coming to public scrutiny thanks to various activist organizations, showing various government deficiencies, and what they have been telling people. According to Wired, Aug 14, 2012 QUOTE473 Thousands of pages of FAA experimental flight records were obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FAA for years kept such poor records on private and commercial aircraft that the Associated Press discovered 119,000 with missing paperwork in 2010 one-third of the total registered. Congressional investigators tallied 200 drone accidents that varied in severity over 4 years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than half were due to material issues, such as component failures. Bell Helicopter manufactured an Eagle Eye prototype in 2005 and tested it south of a tiny Texas town, Graford, until the drone crashed the following year, FAA records show. It was developed as an aircraft for the Coast Guard that could take off and land vertically, but records show test flights could be conducted only during daylight hours with favorable weather conditions. UNQUOTE Additional examples are cited in the article, about disconnect between ground pilots and the drones they are controlling, and a significant volume of crashes and mishaps. This info shows that, drones operating over USA airspace, is not a new phenomena. The article cites a GAO document, which I previously downloaded, and posted in my collection474 with the name: GAO Drones USA D08-511 2008 May, to distinguish from GAO reports on military use of Drones in other nations, and GAO reports on Drones, more recently than 2008 July, also in my collection. So add the Center for Investigative Reporting475 to other keyword places to look up, for more info. The accident rate of unmanned aircraft is higher than with manned aircraft. FAA analyses how come, based heavily on military data:.A Summary of Unmanned Aircraft Accident/Incident Data: Human Factor Implications (PDF)476 According to Business Week:477 QUOTE
473
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/08/faa-documents-raise-questions-about-safety-of-drones-in-us-airspace/ http://cironline.org/reports/documents-raise-questions-about-safety-drones-us-airspace-3723 474 I have uploaded a collection of official documents about drones, along with these Drone Notes by Al Mac, to Google Doc Drive: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4b-ZLWR0bmZLS3d5OVk/edit 475 http://cironline.org/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/08/faa-documents-raise-questions-about-safety-of-drones-in-u-sairspace/cir-logo/ 476 http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0424.pdf 477 http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-18/drones-most-accident-prone-u-dot-s-dot-air-forcecraft-bgov-barometer
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM The U.S. militarys three biggest drones, made by Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) (NOC) and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., are the most accident-prone aircraft in the Air Force fleet. UNQUOTE According to CRS Drones in NAS 2012 Sept,478 UAS will need safety provisions, which they do not yet have: Technology and standard procedures for sensing and avoiding other air traffic under all possible scenarios, including lost communications. Equipment on manned aircraft, to supply transponder signals to Air Traffic Control, is simply too heavy and bulky for a drone to carry. Unmanned aircraft operations may also pose a risk to persons and property on the ground. To minimize the likelihood of a crash when communications, command, and control linkages between the vehicle and the ground control station are disrupted, UAVs may need the ability to autonomously return to base. While in transit back to base, they also need to avoid any other air traffic in the area. In addition to qualifications of the pilot, and capabilities of the drone, there is also the security concern, that a drone might be hacked, then used as a flying bomb in a terrorist attack. The official operators may need to pass some kind of security clearance, and their training and systems be such that if they are hacked, they rapidly detect that and report it to proper authorities. In Drone Terms, see: ADS-B; Autonomous Drone; CBP; CRS; DSA; FAA; FAS; FCC; FOIA; ITU; NAS; Next-Gen; NTSB; RF; TSA, UAS; UAV.
Drone Lasers (2 Sep 18)

According to RT (News in English, published in Russia), Aug 3, 2012, QUOTE:479 Grand Forks, North Dakota the third largest city in the state hosts a domestic training facility for the militarys unmanned aerial vehicles, starting October 2012. FAA says that traditional airplanes will continue to fly through the airspace, with around four flights currently traveling through the area each day. Since the MQ1 Predator [UAS] laser is non-eye safe and will be used during training sorties flown by the military, its use constitutes a hazardous activity that must be confined within restricted area airspace to protect nonparticipating aircraft, the latest FAA regulations read. Additionally, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) are arguing that the use of the lasers, if not properly announced to pilots ahead of time, could put their flights in grave danger.
478 479
https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/drones_nas.html https://rt.com/usa/news/predator-north-dakota-ground-243/
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UNQUOTE
$200 million crashed (2 June 20) $

A Navy Drone, which had cost US taxpayers $200 million, crashed in Maryland, June 2012. Very little details have made it into mainstream news. 480
Drone Operator Error (2 Sep 18)

Some accidents really are due to pilot error.481 The terminology unmanned aircraft is misleading, because humans really are controlling them, except in a very few military experimental craft. Those humans are subject to human error. Currently, drones are required to be operated by a person who has a pilots license. But what the operator of a drone needs to know, deviates somewhat from what a pilot of a plane or helicopter needs to know. This also varies with the size and complexity of the drone. The pilot may also need to meet some eyesight standards, like with the issuing of automobile driver licenses. On April 25, 2006, a Predator B (MQ-9) drone crashed in a remote area along the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, AZ following a loss of engine power. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that probable cause of the mishap was the drone pilots failure to follow appropriate procedures when switching to an alternate control console in the ground control station following a computer malfunction.482 The error resulted in the pilot inadvertently cutting off the vehicles fuel supply. The NTSB blamed US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for this crash. Their training and oversight had been a joke, despite a whole string of malfunctions indicating need for better quality by CBP and its contractors. In this case, the pilot had had only 27 hours of training, was only supposed to operate drones under the supervision of an instructor pilot, who was not present during this incident, but these rules were communicated verbally with no paper trail. Verbal approval systems were not standard in CBP, and should not be with its drone operations. In Drone Terms, see: CBP; NTSB.
Drone Communications (2 Sep 18)

I now connect my PC to the Internet via what my ISP laughingly calls high speed cable. When I was using a land line, and had mobile phone off the handset, I could
480
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/ad-lib/2012/jun/12/navy-drone-crasheschesapeake-bay-whats-drone-doin/ https://rt.com/usa/news/us-navy-drone-states-603/ 481 http://theaviationist.com/2011/12/21/pilot-error/

482
National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Identification: CHI06MA121, Aviation Accident Database &
Available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20060509X00531&key=1
Synopses, Probable Cause Approval Date: October 31, 2007.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM hear the electronic traffic of my computer talking to the Internet, such as passwords being keyed. I could also hear, over that mobile phone, radio calls of local taxi services, and other commercial operations. This is because many different services are sharing the same radio frequencies (RF). Currently Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV) use the same RF as many other applications, and thus there is extreme risk of interference. For future safety, UAV need a band, or range, of RF just for them, and a system where the RF signals used by one UAV, do not interfere with the RF of another. In Drone Terms, see: ISP; RF; UAV.
Near Miss (2 Sep 18)

While the USA has had rules banning drones and model aircraft from flying in immediate proximity, for decades, at least since the 1981 DoT regulations, 483 if other nations have similar rules, they are not being enforced, according to this article about troubles for Australia.484 Australia requires that commercial drones be flown below 400 feet unless given permission, at least 30 meters from people and away from airports and populous areas. They also require a pilots license. The government allegedly relies on the industry to police itself, but theres not much it can do against the people who totally disregard the laws. Here is an article by RT, news from Russia in English,485 regarding an almost collision between a Cessna manned plane, and an unmanned Drone, May 2012 over Colorado.486
Non-Lethal Kills (2 Oct 18) !

According to Amnesty International, early in 2012, the USA had reached a score of 500 people killed in USA by police use of Tasers, often described as a non-lethal weapon. There are many stories of people seriously maimed by so-called non-lethal weapons, thus when there is talk of police arming domestic drones with non-lethal weapons, this disturbs a lot of people. Here is an article by RT, news from Russia in English,487 regarding alleged plans by US law enforcement, to arm domestic drones with non-lethal weapons.488 I have seen a few other such articles,489 but so far, it sounds like out of the many hundreds of outfits with drones over US cities, only a couple police agencies seem to be seriously interested in weaponizing their drones. According to Global Research (in Canada), June 21, 2012:490 QUOTE
483 484
In list of official documents, which I have downloaded. http://www.smh.com.au/national/flying-drones-a-safety-threat-at-airports-20120910-25nds.html 485 See chapter on reporter veracity concerns when news comes from a nation whos e news media is not free, and there can be motivations to make USA look bad. 486 https://rt.com/usa/news/drone-plane-colorado-pilot-529/ 487 See chapter on reporter veracity concerns when news comes from a nation whose news media is not free, and there can be motivations to make USA look bad. 488 https://rt.com/usa/news/us-domestic-drones-armed-090/ 489 http://www.tgdaily.com/security-brief/63600-the-weaponization-of-domestic-drones 490 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31535
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM According to an ABC News report, Drones can carry facial recognition cameras, license plate scanners, thermal imaging cameras, open WiFi sniffers, and other sensors. And they can be armed. The precise technological capabilities of these drones, developed by defense giants such as Northrop Grumman at a cost of billions of dollars, are a closely guarded state secret. Nevertheless, the surveillance potential of today's drones makes the spying carried out by the dictatorships of the last century look like child's play. Everywhere one goes, everything one says, everything one does even within one's homecan now be surreptitiously observed, recorded, and collected in huge government databanks being secretly constructed by the Obama administration. (See: Obama administration expands illegal surveillance of Americans) UNQUOTE I believe the above depiction over-states the risk to people in western democracies. However I fear for people in un-democratic nations to which this technology gets exported. Quoting from the ACLU:491 QUOTE Drone manufacturers are also considering offering police the option of arming these remote-controlled aircraft with (nonlethal for now) weapons like rubber bullets, Tasers, and tear gas. UNQUOTE There are stories of specific police departments going down this road. According to RT:492 QUOTE Law enforcement near Houston, Texas will soon have a $300,000 robotic surveillance drone in their arsenal, and if Montgomery Countys chief deputy has his say, its only a matter of time before that aircraft will be equipped to fire from above. UNQUOTE In Drone Terms, see Drone Police, which lists all the different stuff which can be on a drone used by police, most of it an attack on the privacy of the general public. In Drone Reports, theres a list of documents I have downloaded, see Police alphabetically. Also in National Security section of Drone reports, see Hillsborough and Ma Chemist, for misconduct by people working with the police.
491 492
http://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/domestic-drones https://rt.com/usa/news/drone-surveillance-montgomery-weapon-507/
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Police with Weaponized Drones (2 Oct 18) !

Lets nail down how many police forces are doing this, and correlate with the total # of FAA approvals for drone activities inside USA.493 According to Midwest Democracy, June 19, 2012494: QUOTE A county sheriff's office in Texas used a homeland security grant to buy a $300,000, 50-pound Shadow Hawk helicopter drone for its SWAT team. The drone can be equipped with a 40mm grenade launcher and a 12-gauge shotgun. Randy McDaniel, chief deputy with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, told The Associated Press earlier this year his office had no plans to arm the drone, but he left open the possibility the agency might decide to adapt the drone to fire tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. UNQUOTE However, during a photo-op, that UAV crashed into a SWAT van, raising important issues of safety, and proper pilot training, in a crowded urban environment. 495 What happens if the photo op management is of higher rank than the UAV pilot, ordering unsafe antics? Do the certifications protect the safety officers from obeying commands which could cause the destruction of a $100,000.00 investment? We know from Fukushima, Chernobyl, Shuttle disasters, an Italian Cruise Ship, BP Oil Spill, Indiana Fairgrounds, and other events, that safety can often be over-ruled by people who lack safety credentials. Montgomery County is in E-SE Texas, within the HoustonSugar LandBaytown metropolitan area.496 In Financial Alternatives within Statistics section, see what Montgomery County Sheriff Office told Congress, for a totally different spin on their claimed intentions.
Privacy Concerns (2 June 23) !

Many Advocacy groups have expressed concerns about possible violations of peoples constitutional and privacy rights, which may grow, as drones get more heavily used by law enforcement, and private companies.
493
Under 300 approved by end of 2011, according to many news stories. Over 700 approved by early 2012, according to EFF FOIA. 494 http://www.tgdaily.com/security-brief/63600-the-weaponization-of-domestic-drones and http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/false-reports-of-epa-drones-over-midwest-farms-alarm-public/ Also http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hIaExjZo_SJvCNR9gpYff3pSasDA?docId=b224ea 8719ce4bbc9abec616653cad90 495 https://rt.com/usa/news/domestic-drone-court-ruling-743/ 496 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_County,_Texas
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)497 Center for Democracy and Technology498 Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington DC (CREW)499 The Electronic Frontier Foundation500 Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)501 Project on Government Secrecy502 at the Federation of American Scientists503.
Many Advocacy groups have concerns which go beyond domestic drone action. For them, drone policies are only the latest in a series of disturbing activities, which falls under their purview. Some, based on their past focus, might logically step into this area also, but have apparently not done so yet. As I have stated elsewhere, with new technology and new authorizations for its use, for some people there is a kind of Future Shock for some people who expect it will be used for the worst possible abuses, fueling conspiracy theories which are pure speculation, with very little foundation, reading like science fiction, except many readers accept it as fact. In the footnotes I will share some such stories.504
Drone Ethics (2 July 23) !

Public reaction to drone use over USA cities has included: Safety Concerns (Drones operate on different systems than manned flight, risk of collision, plus drone safety record not as good as manned flight); Hacking & Hijacking Concerns (Drone vulnerability adds to risk of terrorist troubles, although my analysis concludes this risk is over-stated); Privacy Concerns (Drone surveillance of innocent legal activities, data not stored secure against breaches); Constitutional Concerns (Kill suspects without judicial recourse, can happen in any police encounter, but government trends towards more secrecy of data used to judge people adversely this is just an added complication added to people fears); Vast numbers of conspiracy theories (e.g. notion that EPA is spying on ranchers).
497
http://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/domestic-drones http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security/drones-nightmare-scenario 498 https://www.cdt.org/search/node/Drones 499 CREW http://www.citizensforethics.org/ http://www.scribd.com/citizensforethics 500 https://www.eff.org/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/week-transparency-drones-secret-surveillance-and-classifyingwizard-oz 501 https://epic.org/ 502 https://www.fas.org/sgp/ 503 https://www.fas.org/index.html 504 http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/drones-in-america-wheres-the-outrage/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM This public reaction may have contributed to the drone industry coming up with a set of ethical standards.505 According to the Washington Times, July 2, 2012:506 QUOTE Released by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International,507(AUVSI) the guidelines focus on three principals: safety, professionalism and respect. They include promises that the industry will properly test all drones before flight, comply with all laws governing aircraft, respect the privacy of individuals, and work to better educate the public. UNQUOTE Recognize that codes of conduct are usually voluntary, not binding on the manufacturers, nor any of their customers. According to the AUVSI,508 to view the Code of Conduct, visit www.auvsi.org/conduct. Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution writes in The Atlantic on some issues that the drone industrys new code of conduct seemed to overlook, particularly issues that may require revising existing laws.509 Unmanned vehicles, whether auto or aircraft, require revisiting some laws. There is no penalty whatsoever for any violation of these voluntary standards. Many of the standards are quite vague.
Drone Rules in US NAS (2 Sep 2)

Currently the US FAA510 is in charge of rules for everything which flies in US NAS,511 including drones.
Drone Dimensions (2 July 17) !

It is not clear to me whether there are dimensions to what is to be considered a drone for purposes of FAA512 regulation. For many decades, there have been hobbies of radio controlled model aircraft, boats, cars, some toys, some more sophisticated. There has been model rocketry. Are these hobbies now to be rolled into drone regulation, or are they excluded if they are below some weight, time in the air, altitude, sophistication of what all it can do, etc.?
505
Drone Manufacturers proposed Ethics. http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/todays-headlines-and-commentary-218/ http://tribune-democrat.com/editorials/x1447684215/Allaying-fears-guiding-drones 506 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/2/drone-industry-releases-ethics-code/ 507 http://www.auvsi.org/Home/ 508 http://www.auvsi.org/AUVSI/News/#COC 509 http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/todays-headlines-and-commentary-232/ 510 FAA = US Federal Aviation Administration 511 NAS = US National Air Space 512 FAA = Federal Aviation Administration.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Anything, we see, may be temporary story, since the regulations are in transition. Any size constraint will change, as drones become progressively miniaturized, and as toy robots get more sophisticated. In addition to the COA513 issued to some organization by the FAA, giving permission for drones to be flown over the USA, there are also SAC514 issued by the FAA approving particular devices to be included in the overall fleet of drones over the USA. The person, who operates them is also supposed to have a pilots license. As we can see from the IG515 report on CBP,516 there are also requirements for qualified ground personnel, and proper safety maintenance. According to the FAA,517 QUOTE: A part of the reauthorization bill directed the FAA518 to allow a government public safety agency519 to operate unmanned aircraft weighing 4.4 pounds or less under certain restrictions. The bill further specifies these UAS 520 must be flown within the line of sight of the operator, less than 400 feet above the ground, during daylight conditions, inside Class G (uncontrolled) airspace and more than five miles from any airport or other location with aviation activities. Federal, state and local government entities521 must obtain an FAA Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) before flying UAS522 in the NAS.523 UNQUOTE According to Bloomberg, May 2012:524 QUOTE Police, fire and similar departments will be able to fly drones weighing as much as 25 pounds (11.3 kilos) without applying for special approvals needed under previous regulations, the Federal Aviation Administration said today in a statement on its website.525 UNQUOTE
513 514
COA = Certificate of Authorization. SAC = Special Airworthiness Certificate. 515 IG = Inspector General. 516 CBP = US Customs and Border protection. 517 FAA statements: http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=68004 518 FAA = Federal Aviation Administration. 519 My understanding from context of other sources, and COA actually issued thanks to info in FOIA via EFF, this also applies to lots of organizations, in addition to first responders, such as colleges and universities. 520 UAS = Unmanned Air Systems. 521 This statement does not mention other kinds of entities, but from context elsewhere, I believe these regulations apply to everyone in the USA. 522 UAS = Unmanned Air Systems. 523 NAS = National Airspace System, i.e. Over the USA. 524 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-14/drones-up-to-25-pounds-allowed-for-u-s-safetyagencies.html 525 http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=68004
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM But how about people other than such departments? Theres also the issue of the skills of the pilots and other personnel, with turn-over, and management policies. According to Southern California Public Radio 89.3 KPCC, May 2012:526 QUOUTE Agencies must demonstrate proficiency before they are granted an operational permit. The pilot handling the drone must be able to see the small aircraft UNQUOTE
RC = Radio Control etc. (2 July 17)

Before drones were added to what FAA regulates over USA skies, there were lots of Radio Control hobbies and toys: model aircraft; toy cars; boats. Theres als o model rocketry, robots used in house cleaning, which are not operated by Radio Control. Many are objects which fly in our skies, have historically been quite innocent, but could get caught up in how drones get defined. Will their freedoms be impaired thanks to post 9/11 security fears? Here is partial clarification from DOT (Department of Transportation), regarding model aircraft hobby, dated in 1981.527 Multiple other sources indicate the regulations have evolved since then. Theres a mountain of opportunities for regulations regarding what people are doing where, with what kinds of air craft.528 Most RC devices are normally operated within line of sight of the operator. Theres also manned sail planes or gliders. How about balloons and kites? In my region of the USA, many retailers, particularly auto dealers, have balloons flying above the height of the local buildings, carrying signs proclaiming the name of the place, illuminated at night by floodlights. They can be seen from many miles away. I imagine there must be some ordinances covering this, perhaps similar to highway bill board rules. They may also have regulations similar to those for kites.
RC Model Aircraft (2 Oct 13)

RC model aircraft can be conceived of being a delivery vehicle in a terrorist attack. 529
526 527
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/05/14/32421/police-can-fly-drones-are-25-pounds/
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/1acfc3f689769a56862569e 70077c9cc/$FILE/ATTBJMAC/ac91-57.pdf 528 http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2012/07/02/feds-take-action-against-uas-operations-nearalcatraz-2/ http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_20975136/feds-cite-marin-county-men-over-drone-helicopter 529 http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2012/07/10/mass-man-to-plead-in-terror-plot-using-modelairplanes/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Apparently some rules were amended by the FAA in 2007. However, see in GAO finds barriers for droning, where GAO Drones USA 12-889 t = 2012 July testimony on role of DHS,530 said the FAA is prohibited from drafting rules for model aircraft. According to a post in RC-CAM forum:531 QUOTE The FAA has released its ruling on RC and UAVs. (See: http://a257.g.akamai...07/E7-2402.htm) Pretty much reiterates the previous position on RC flight but severely effects flying beyond line-of-site and commercial use. Basically you'll have to license ANY aircraft used for commercial purposes under experimental class (big $$$ and time consuming, I'm sure.) Take a look at the link or a Google search for FAA-2006-25714; Notice No. 07-01 will bring it up if the link doesn't work. Happy flying, Jimmy www.jtmodels.com UNQUOTE According to a 2009 post in DV Digital Video) INFO forum:532 QUOTE If you are shooting video or photography using RC aircraft whether it's fixedwing or heli and it's for commercial or promotional purposes it's illegal. Period. That is unless you have what's called a COA or have undergone a very lengthy and costly certification process. At issue are three very important points: First, the FAR's or Federal Air Regulations that specifically apply to RC aircraft - or UAV's - for the purpose of commercial aerial photography has not been widely disseminated by the FAA or any other governing authority. It remains a mostly unknown but very volatile piece of information. Second, the FAA contends that unless the entity wanting to use RC-aerials is under the auspices of a "C.O.A." - which is only issued for government or research facilities for the purposes of search and rescue, military ops, law enforcement or scientific research then that company must: A) Certify the aircraft just as if it were full-sized; B) Obtain formal operator training and also become certified as a UAV operator; C) Carry the appropriate insurances;
530 531
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-889T http://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1697-new-faa-regulations-for-uavsrc/ 532 http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-video-industry-news/145993-rc-aerials-illegal-says-faa.html
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM D) Follow and maintain certain airspace rules and restrictions mandated by the FAA. Three: The airframe and operator certification process the FAA is requiring does not formally exist anywhere currently. No forum, school or government agency has been created - nor the curriculum - to facilitate these certifications. It's a "chicken before the egg" scenario, for lack of a better term. UNQUOTE I downloaded the two documents included, am renaming what I have downloaded so far, to try to make content more obvious whats what, and will be re -sharing via Google Docs. Additional discussion regarding info presented in the above thread, informs us that there is now a class action suit against the FAA, because the new regulations have made illegal a large and profitable industry, and also individual FAA rulings have been very inconsistent. I went looking for more info on the status of this effort.533 A dimension of all this, is that the RF (Radio Frequency) to control the RC Model Aircraft, is required to be within a certificate provided by the FCC under the Ham Radio rules, and under no circumstances is the Ham Radio to be used for any commercial for-profit activities. In the 1970s I was active in a hobby club known as The Cincinnati Computer Club, for people who had what came to be known later as Personal Computers (PCs). One of my pals in that club, was using his Ham Radio connected to his PC, to send a kind of e-mail via the Ham Radio. He would compose the e-mails on his PC, which was not connected to the Internet, because as far as we were concerned, the Personal Internet had not yet been invented. The only bare bones of the Internet available to us at the time, was very slow dial-up to connect to someone with a really big PC, hosting a Bulletin Board System (BBS) which was like todays Forums. When he went off to work each morning, he left his Ham Radio operating unattended, sending the various signals to connect with some Ham pal, whose equipment was doing the same thing, then after the FCC required handshake, the equipment would get the e-mail contents transferred, so that when the real people got home from work,
533
Class action suit against FAA on behalf of long time users of RC air craft, now declared illegal: (Thats FAA = Federal Aviation Administration). http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1022554 http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/t503664p1/ http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=127666 FAA = US federal Arbitration Act. http://www.rc.com/newsletters/Publications/1860.pdf
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM they would find a pile of e-mails from their Ham friends. They were not called emails then. E-mails had not yet been invented. I dont remember what they were called. Any how, the FCC came out with new regulations to complicate what my pals were doing. Nothing was to be transmitted over Ham Radio, which could not be read by FCC and other government officials. They had been transmitting all sorts of documents, and other stuff we take for granted today on computers. This meant that they had to stop transmitting Word documents, spread sheets, and so forth, because the government people might not have the same kind of software, to make heads or tails of what was being transmitted. So there is a precedent with activity being conducted innocently, and legally, then new government regulations being enacted, which are very insensitive to the past activities. A lot of the postings to the model aircraft forums are by somewhat ignorant people, who foolishly claim that Because the FAA has no local police force, these rules cannot be enforced (They are being enforced by a wide spectrum of legal agencies, other than FAA); Because of good quality regulations in the past, there is no need for new regulations, so we should ignore information about the changing legal landscape (some of these people may soon be facing $10k fines for every day they are in violation of the surprise new rules.); Because something now is illegal, that is the end of it; Because the new regulations are stupid, people should disobey them. I found the above info mid July 2012. Until then, I was curious why there seemed to be a large number of colleges and universities with drone COAs, but no private industry, commercial applications.534 The answer is that the bar has been set extremely high, almost prohibitively so, for applications for profit. This is a surprise to me, given how invasive lobbyists have been involved in dictating public policy. However, this opens up a nitch, where there could be private drone companies providing drone services to business, much like there are security firms, and insurance firms, and general aircraft.
US Airspace now closed to RC Helicopters (2 July 17)

According to MI6 Films Blog:535 QUOTE I have had several very long phone conversations with the folks at FAA in Washington DC & Southern California field office. There is no budge in the
534 535
See section on US legal Droning, particularly what EFF found out from FAA via FOIA. http://mi6films.com/2011/rc-helicopter-mikrokopter-hexa-helicopter/faa-has-restricted-all-rc-helicopterflight-in-the-usa-airspace/687/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM conditions of RC for aerial photography , aerial video no matter how small scale. The USA air-space is closed to all RC s for any commercial use. Does not matter we maybe in a controlled space, on a film location set for a movie, flying at 40 feet above the ground, no where near an airport, NO FLIGHT OF ANY TYPE ANY WHERE, is the answer we got. UNQUOTE This applies to commercial for-profit operations. Experimental, models, and government operations are still allowed, but see the other links, since this is an area of evolving rules. This shut down, might apply to more than RC helicopters. According to Photography for Real Estate Blog:536 QUOTE RC Helicopter flying in the USA airspace ground zero feet, to 90,000 feet, the FAA control it, and for commercial use, we could not fly in it, period, until they figure out how to regulate, no one can fly in the USA airspace. Basic, you will need a normal FAA Pilot License, yea to fly a regular plane with an RC Helicopter endorsement on your license. If you have a FAA Pilot License now, you get endorsements is normal, to fly a bigger aircraft, multi-engine aircraft, helicopter etc, so it is just an added certification that goes on your license. In discussions with staffers about FAA regulations they indicated that a first time offense minimum fine is $10,000, up to $100,000, plus carries a possible 3 to 10 years in the pen. Not a light thing to consider, even if you get probation for the time ! UNQUOTE
Kite flying regulations (2 July 17)

I think there will be a distinction between children flying toy paper kites, and those kites which are large enough for a human to ride, either being towed behind a small boat, or launched from a high terrain location. In summary (see details below), which I think are not USA, due to metric system ingredients, but USA rules may be similar. Do not fly a kite near an airport, while there are aircraft operating there. Do not fly in noise sensitive areas. Theres a limit to how high up, above the ground, people may operate kit es. Do not fly close to pedestrians, even spectators, or where they would be a distraction to other traffic, such as on highways. When operating at night, the kite (and its cable) needs to have lights.
536
http://photographyforrealestate.net/2012/01/24/warning-faa-says-us-airspace-is-closed-to-allcommercial/
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According to a post in RC-CAM forum:537 QUOTE Civil Aviation legislation applicable to kite flying is contained in the Air Navigation Order 2000 (Statutory Instrument No 2000/1562) and the Rules of the Air Regulations 1996 (Statutory Instrument No 1996/1393). For the purposes of these documents kites are classified as aircraft. The relevant parts of the above in relation to kites are:Article 86(2) () (iv) A kite shall not be flown at a height of more than 30 meters above ground level within the aerodrome traffic zone of a notified aerodrome during the notified operating hours of that aerodrome. [Although it is generally accepted that for safety reasons you should not fly within 5km of any aerodrome]. Article 86(2) () (v) A kite shall not be flown at a height of more than 60 meters above ground level. The foregoing provisions may not take place without the permission in writing of the Authority and in accordance with any conditions subject to which that permission may have been granted. The application to be made NOT LESS than 28 days prior to the event Article 63 Of the Order requires that a person shall not recklessly or negligently act in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft, or any person therein. Article 64 Of the Order requires that a person shall not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property. Rule 14 The Rules of the Air A kite while flying at night at a height exceeding 60 meters above the surface shall display lights as follows: (a) a group of two steady lights consisting of a white light placed 4 meters above a red light, both being of at least five candela and showing in all directions, the white light being placed not less than 5 meters or more than 10 meters below the lowest part of the kite; () on the mooring cable, at intervals of not more than 300 meters measured from the group of lights referred to in sub-paragraph (a), groups of two lights of the color and power and in the relative positions specified in that subparagraph, and, if the lowest group of lights is obscured by cloud, an additional group below the cloud base; and
537
http://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1697-new-faa-regulations-for-uavsrc/
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM on the surface, a group of three flashing lights arranged in a horizontal plane at the apexes of a triangle, approximately equilateral, each side of which measures at least 25 meters; one side of the triangle shall be approximately at right angles to the horizontal projection of the cable and shall be delimited by two red lights; the third light shall be a green light so placed that the triangle encloses the object on the surface to which the kite is moored. A kite while flying by day at a height exceeding 60 meters above the surface shall have attached to it's mooring cable at intervals of not more than 200 meters measured from the lowest part of the kite, tubular streamers not less than 40 centimeters in diameter and 2 meters in length, and marked with alternate bands of red and white 50 centimeters wide, or at intervals of not more than 100 meters measured from the lowest part of the kite, streamers not less than 80 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide at their widest point and marked with alternate bands of red and white 10 centimeters wide. UNQUOTE
Advisory vs. Regulation (3 Mar 13)

In my posts to drone-list, I often try to put some stories into perspective. When there were reports, in 2013 March about incidents with alleged drones violating airspace of NYC airports, I speculated that the aircraft in question might in fact be a model aircraft, not a drone. Feedback improved my understanding of some situations. I had written, QUOTE: "Once upon a time Dept of Transportation regulated the model aircraft hobby, but in its infinite wisdom, when Congress gave the job of drone regulation to the FAA, it removed model aircraft hobby regulation from any US government agency oversight. So if that was a radio controlled model aircraft up there, technically it was no longer illegal for it to be there, thanks to legislation passed by Congress in 2012. " UNQUOTE A reply by Coby with Metanomy.org wrote, QUOTE: It's never legal to put your model plane in a spot where it could threaten full scale aircraft (see para a.4 and 5.b below). AC 91-57 is the advisory that DoT put out regarding model aviation operations back in 1981: http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/540-c.pdf
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Again, that was an advisory and has been argued by some that it does not equate to legislation. The new legislation I assume you are referring to is this section of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act:
<quote/> SEC. 336. SPECIAL RULE FOR MODEL AIRCRAFT.
(a) IN GENERAL.Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to the incorporation of unmanned aircraft systems into Fed eral Aviation Administration plans and policies, including this sub- title, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft, or an aircraft being developed as a model aircraft, if (1) the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use; (2) the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization; (3) the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds unless otherwise certified through a design, construction ,inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization; (4) the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and (5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport) with prior notice of the operation (model aircraft operators flying from a permanent location within 5 miles of an airport should establish a mutually-agreed upon operating procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport)). (b) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Administrator to pursue enforcement action against persons operating model aircraft who endanger the safety of the national airspace system.
</quote> I would argue that perhaps the one Advisory Circular the government released over thirty years ago is not as useful as the above legislation in conjunction with the comprehensive safety and education program the AMA supports for model aircraft operations. Model aviation has been running with a successful community based safety program for years. The latest legislation just reflects reality, which is hard to believe these days. As in most activities there will always be idiots who want to make it harder for those of who want to use the NAS responsibly. UNQUOTE
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The Horses Mouth (2 June 20)

Here are original sources, as opposed to other people talking about and analyzing what they think the facts are. Sometimes the Horses Mouth is contaminated by PR, and sometimes the analysts can have an agenda, or misconceptions.
Air Force USAF (2 Aug 23)

American Security Project (ASP)538 link to Factsheet on the MQ-1B Predator drone produced by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. US Air Force. (2012, January 5) MQ-1B Predator. US Air Force. [Online]. Available: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=122 American Security Project (ASP)539 link to Factsheet on the MQ-9 Reaper drone produced by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. US Air Force. (2012, January 5) MQ-9 Reaper. US Air Force. [Online]. Available: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=6405 American Security Project (ASP)540 link to Factsheet on the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone produced by Northrup Grumman. US Air Force. (2012, January 27) RQ-4 Global Hawk. US Air Force. [Online]. Available: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13225 American Security Project (ASP)541 link to factsheets on all USAF vehicles, weapons, and organizations. US Air Force (2012) USAF Factsheet Links. US Air Force. [Online]. Available: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/index.asp
US Congress Research (2 Sep 13) !

I now subscribe, via RSS542 to Secrecy News543 from the FAS544 Project on Government Secrecy. This frequently includes reports from CRS,545 and occasionally they include info about drones.546 When Congress passed the FAA reauthorization bill, early in 2012, it included language allowing for the expansion of unmanned aerial vehicles in the national airspace. FAA followed Congresss instructions to start regulating drones in US airspace, causing many people to question the wisdom of this, leading to some in
538
http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 539 http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 540 http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 541 http://americansecurityproject.org/issues/asymmetric-operations/the-strategic-effects-of-a-lethal-dronespolicy/drone-information-sources-annotated-bibliography/ 542 RSS = Rich Site Summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS 543 https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/ 544 FAS = Federation of American Scientists 545 CRS = Congressional Research Service 546 https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/?s=Drone
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Congress to have second thoughts about the wisdom of their actions.547 This led to requests for clarifications, which Congress had a fiduciary responsibility to conduct before crafting the legislation they are now having second thoughts about. See: Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses, September 20122 report, from Congressional Research Service reviews Fourth Amendment landscape, current status of drone technology and applications, and pending drone legislation.548 Legal Issues Related to the Lethal Targeting of U.S. Citizens Suspected of Terrorist Activities, May 2012 in a 23 page memorandum prepared for members of Congress by the Congressional Research Service. 549 This document is well worth periodic re-reads, since it maps out history in perspective, with lots of links, and delineates multiple problem areas. Here I digest some key content. o Congress responded to 9/11 terrorist attacks by authorizing the
President to use all necessary and appropriate military force to subdue those responsible as well as those who harbored the perpetrators. o There is wide agreement that drones are as legal as any other weapon of war used consistently with the laws of armed conflict (also known as international humanitarian law),550 but their remote operation from territory where no combat is taking place, and the fact that they may be operated by non-military personnel551 raise questions about the scope of the armed conflict and who qualifies as a participant in it.
Heres a Sep 2012 report about developing more autonomy of military drone operations.552
547 548
https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/07/drone_second_thoughts.html https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf I downloaded, calling my copy: CRS Drone Fourth Amend 2012 Sept. Here is article about it: http://www.businessinsider.com/report-says-domestic-drones-can-spy-on-you-2012-9 549 https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/targeted_killing.html I downloaded, calling my copy: CRS Kill US Citizen Legalities 2012 May. 550 Is it true that these two sets of terminology are the same exact concept? I had thought that human rights laws covered topics beyond that of armed conflicts, and that some armed conflict also had areas which did not overlap. I explore these ramifications extensively in multiple documents: Drone Scribd, particularly International Law section; Drone Terms; and elsewhere in these Drone Notes. Eventually I hope to have the stuff consolidated better than now, but more info is reaching me quite rapidly. 551 By the pure definition of unlawful combatants, not protected by the Geneva Convention, as articulated by President Bush after 9/11, where lawful combatants are uniformed members of a nations military, it seems clear that unlawful combatants include CIA employees, civilian contractors, off-duty police, and rescue workers at the site of any attack, by anyone. 552 https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/dsb_autonomy.html I downloaded, calling my copy: DOD Autonomous Drones 2012 July.
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US Gov DoD.(2 Sep 05)

Here is the US Dept of Defense (DoD) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) roadmap for the next 25 years, as of 2003.553 It has been estimated that one third of the US military now consists of drones, and that this proportion is increasing, which has led to questions, of clarification, at DoD Press Briefings.554
US Gov FAA (2 July 19) !

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)555 is in charge of coordinating domestic (non-military) flights over USA air space. Some of these links are to other organizations, untangling FAA regulations, and the enabling legislation. FAA web portal specifically on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).556 This web page was cited in 2007 FAA UA Rules shared in my Drone Info Google Doc Drive collection,557 but gone by the time I found it in 2012, and went looking. However, many links here to FAA work, then on any of them we can search for UAS, or related acronyms. 2007 FAA UA Rules shared in my Drone Info Google Doc Drive collection,558 FAA Dec 2010 Fact Sheet on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).559 FAA 2010 Fact Sheet (PDF) on US Drone Industry.560 FAA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)561 Any drone flying over 400 feet, within the USA, needs a certification or authorization from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), part of the DOT (Department of Transportation).562 FAA info to EFF via FOIA.563 FAA Time Line for Drones over USA.564 FAA Sets Large ND Drone Training Airspace565 Speech "Getting Ready for Unmanned Aircraft" A 2005 talk about history perspective of unpiloted aircraft,566 from Civil War balloons to the present day, such as Japans UAV crop dusting.
553 554
http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=2064 http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2012/07/28/you-might-have-missed-drones-afghanistan-and-militaryintervention/#more-2996 555 http://www.faa.gov/

556 557 558
http://www.faa.gov/uas.
https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4b-ZLWR0bmZLS3d5OVk/edit https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9euafJH4b-ZLWR0bmZLS3d5OVk/edit 559 http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=6287 560 http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/media/UAS_FACT_Sheet.pdf 561 http://faa.custhelp.com/ 562 https://www.eff.org/foia/faa-drone-authorizations 563 EFF = Electronic Freedom Foundation FOIA = Freedom of Information Act https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/faa-releases-thousands-pages-drone-records 564 https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/FAA_Drone_Timeline-8.5x14.pdf 565 http://cryptome.org/2012/06/faa062012.htm 566 http://www.faa.gov/news/speeches/news_story.cfm?newsId=6066
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM A Summary of Unmanned Aircraft Accident/Incident Data: Human Factor Implications (PDF)567 The accident rate of unmanned aircraft is higher than with manned aircraft. Here the FAA analyses how come, based heavily on military data. Time line how drones will be phased into our airspace and our lives. 568
FAA Policy (2 Sep 18)

UAS manufacturers and users want authorization similar to that with manned aircraft, where the license lasts for years, where filing a flight plan is simple, or they can just fly wherever they want to go, without filing a flight plan. On February 13, 2007, FAA issued a policy notice declaring that no person may operate a UAS in the National Airspace System without specific authority.569 This policy applies to both public and private unmanned aircraft. The FAA has two methods for granting authority to operate unmanned aircraft, depending on whether the operator is a public or a private entity.570 Unmanned aircraft operated by the military or other federal, state, or local agencies must obtain a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) from FAA. Since 2006, FAA has issued COAs to more than 100 unique public entities throughout the United States, ranging from local fire departments to research laboratories. Since the COAs have narrow scopes and durations, entities must obtain new authorizations every few months. In 2009, FAA issued 146 such COAs. In 2010, the number of COAs issued grew to 298.571 See FAA Modernization in Legislation US. Some of this 2012 legislation was because Congress was impatient with FAA having studied UAS in NAS for over a decade and seemingly not accomplished anything.572 FAA addresses
requests to operate unmanned aircraft on a case-by-case basis, which will become impractical when more people want them, than want automobiles trucks, boats, etc. and currently have permission through state departments or bureaus of motor vehicles.
567 568
http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0424.pdf https://www.cdt.org/blogs/harley-geiger/2703drone-countdown
ederal Aviation Administration, Unmanned Aircraft Operations in the National Airspace System, Federal
569
Register, 72(39), February 13, 2007, 6689-6690

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https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/drones_nas.html downloaded as CRS Drones in NAS 2012 Sept. CRS = Congressional Research Service; FAS = Federation of American Scientists; NAS = US National Air Space.
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Federal Aviation Administration, Fact Sheet: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Updated July 2011, available at http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/media/UAS_FACT_Sheet.pdf
https://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/drones_nas.html downloaded as CRS Drones in NAS 2012 Sept. CRS = Congressional Research Service; FAS = Federation of American Scientists; NAS = US National Air Space.
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In Drone Terms, see: COA; FAA; NAS; UAS.
FAA Feedback (2 Aug 28)

A seeming infinity of voices have reacted to FAA actions with criticisms. A minority of them also have constructive suggestions. According to Lawfare, Aug 28 2012, QUOTE:573 Recent Harvard Law School grads William Marra and Sonia McNeal authors of the first Lawfare Research Paperhave released a short Brookings briefing paper on the regulation of future drones in domestic airspace. Entitled Understanding The Loop: Regulating the Next Generation of Drones. UNQUOTE
US Gov FOIA sites (2 July 14)

After various organizations get info via FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) efforts, some depts of government post that info on web sites for anyone else to access.574

Air Force Central Intelligence Agency Defense Information Systems Agency Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Logistics Agency Defense Security Service Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Justice Department of State Federal Bureau of Investigation National Imagery and Mapping Agency National Reconnaissance Office National Security Agency Navy
US Gov GAO (2 Oct 13)

The US GAO575 has done several reports on drones. A Google search can probably find more, but I have downloaded these so far. I named GAO reports with USA for domestic operations under FAA+DHS. o 2012 Sept GAO 12-981 Domestic Privacy in NAS Progress576 49 pages
573
http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/william-marra-and-sonia-mcneal-on-regulating-the-nextgeneration-of-drones/ http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/08/27-humans-drones-marra-mcneil 574 https://www.fas.org/sgp/foia/index.html 575 GAO = Government Accountability Office. They primarily do inspections on behalf of Congress.
576
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-981 Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones
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2012 July GAO 12-889T Domestic Testimony on DHS role.577 18 pages 2008 May GAO 08-511 Domestic Federal Actions Needed.578 73 pages GAO on Drones by Nation, are primarily focused on break-downs of non-proliferation treaties, secondarily on what nations have drones. A lot of the info, I learned from those GAO reports, found their way into my Drone Nations doc. 2004 Jan GAO 04-175 Drones by Nation 2004 Jan579 63 pages 2012 July GAO 12-536 Drones by Nation 2012 July580 58 pages GAO on Military for DoD, and various branches of the armed services. 2008 Nov GAO 09-175 Military Actions Needed. 581 46 pages 2010 March GAO 10-508T Military Testimony.582 21 pages 2010 March GAO 10-331 Military Planning & Training Needed.583 56 pages
GAO finds barriers for droning (2 Oct 13)

The GAO conducts investigations, comes up with conclusions what is needed to be done, then later has a follow up to see progress carrying out GAOs advice, and suggests what is needed next. In 2008, the GAO found that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) could not meet aviation safety requirements developed for manned aircraft and posed several obstacles to operating safely and routinely in the national airspace system. These included: There is an inability for UAS to detect, sense, and avoid other aircraft and airborne objects in a manner similar to see and avoid by a pilot in a manned aircraft. o As of 2012 July GAO report,584 no suitable technology has been identified that would provide UAS with the capability to meet the detect, sense, and avoid requirements of the national air space (NAS) system. Small UAS do not have the weight carrying ability for radar, or equipment to detect any signals from other air vehicles, even if they were transmitting any. There are vulnerabilities in command and control of UAS operations. o The lack of dedicated radio frequency (RF) spectrum for UAS operations heightens the possibility that an operator could lose command and control of the UAS.585 There is a lack of technological and operational standards needed to guide the safe and consistent performance of UAS.
577 578
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-889T http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08511.pdf 579 http://www.gao.gov/assets/250/241243.pdf 580 http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/593131.pdf 581 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-175 582 https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2010_hr/032310sullivan.pdf 583 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10331.pdf 584 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-889T 585 In earlier notes, I observed that this is an FCC responsibility to resolve.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM o Minimum aviation system standards are needed in three areas: performance; command and control communications; and sense and avoid. o In 2004, RTCA, a standards-making body sponsored by FAA, established a federal advisory committee called the Special Committee 203 (or SC 203), to establish minimum performance standards for FAA to use in developing UAS regulations. o RTCA, formerly the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, is a private, not-for-profit corporation which develops consensusbased performance standards regarding communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management system issues. o RTCA serves as a federal Advisory committee, and its recommendations are the basis for a number of FAAs policy, program, and regulatory decisions. There is a lack of final regulations to accelerate the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace. Security requirements have yet to be developed for UAS ground control stationsthe UAS equivalent of the cockpit.
Many US government agencies are in denial that there are any problems, so they have no planning to deal with problems when they occur, such as: o A facility, which operates drones, gets taken over by criminals. o Drone controls get hacked, then the drones used for criminal or terrorist actions. o Underwater drones now used by drug smugglers, which are undetectable by US Navy, Coast Guard, or CBP, get packed with explosives and used as a torpedo against the supports for a bridge, or other critical infrastructure. o A drone manufacturing facility gets hacked, or other infiltration, leading to a hardware or software back-door installed in the controls, so they are ready to be taken over at will by criminals, terrorists, or foreign adversaries.
While these concerns are expressed by the GAO for drone flights within US airspace, we have already seen that there is a problem internationally. A US drone in Somalia, almost caused a Uganda military transport to crash, because the CIA, and US military, drone operations have paid no attention to civilian air safety.586 In 2008, GAO recommended that Congress should consider creating an overarching body within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address obstacles for routine access. FAAs Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) performs a similar role. By 2012, the FAA has implemented GAOs two 2008 recommendations related to its planning and data analysis efforts to facilitate integration.
586
See Safety section for more info.
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As of 2012, TSA has not yet taken any actions to implement GAOs 2008 recommendation that it examine security implications of future, non-military UAS. GAOs on-going reviews have identified several UAS issues that, although not new, are emerging as areas of further consideration in light of greater access to the national airspace. The GAO intends to explore these issues, in more detail, before the end of 2012. These include: concerns about privacy relating to the collection and use of surveillance data. Currently, no federal agency has specific statutory responsibility to regulate privacy matters relating to UAS. the use of model aircraft (aircraft flown for hobby or recreation) in the national airspace. FAA is generally prohibited from developing any rule or regulation for model aircraft.587 An additional emerging issue is interruption of the command and control of UAS operations through the jamming and spoofing of the Global Positioning System (GPS) between the UAS and ground control station.
US Gov IG May 2012 on CBP (2 July 16)

CBP = US Customs and Border Protection. This agency is part of DHS. DHS = US Department of Homeland Security. It was their IG which did the audit. IG = Inspector General. They exist all through the US government departments and agencies. Their reports go to top of the organizations they inspect, and to relevant Congressional Oversight bodies. OIG = Office of Inspector General. UAS = Unmanned Aircraft System, also Unmanned Airship System.588 US = United States (of America). See more info in Terminology section. May 2012, The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) came out with a report on how US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been using drones, since fiscal year 2004. CBP had initially used drones in the SW border region, with Mexico, and has since expanded their operations to the Northern border, with Canada, into the Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. A lot of problems were identified.589 Quoting from that report: CBP had not adequately planned resources needed to support its current unmanned aircraft inventory. Although CBP developed plans to use the unmanned aircrafts capabilities in its Office of Air and Marine mission, its Concept of Operations planning document did not adequately address processes
587
As noted within the Drone Dimensions section, there are regulations from Dept of Transportation (DoT) for model aircraft. 588 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle 589 http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2012/OIG_12-85_May12.pdf
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(1) to ensure that required operational equipment, such as ground control stations and ground support equipment, is provided for each launch and recovery site; (2) for stakeholders to submit unmanned aircraft mission requests; (3) to determine how mission requests are prioritized; and (4) to obtain reimbursement for missions flown on stakeholders behalf. This approach places CBP at risk of having invested substantial resources in a program that underutilizes resources and limits its ability to achieve Office of Air and Marine mission goals. UNQUOTE There have been ms-matches of hardware, such as drone without ground station, leading to massive under-utilization of the assets CBP has. There has been insufficient support for proper maintenance and safe operations. CBP has flown missions for many other federal agencies, but the process of doing what seems very ad hoc, and not consistent with official paperwork. There are processes to get reimbursed for such support, which have not been followed. OIG made 4 recommendations, all of which CBP management agreed with. QUOTE: (1) Analyze requirements and develop plans to achieve the UAS mission availability objective and acquire funding to provide necessary operations, maintenance, and equipment. (2) Develop and implement procedures to coordinate and support stakeholders mission requests. (3) Establish interagency agreements with external stakeholders for reimbursement of expenses incurred fulfilling mission requests where authorized by law. (4) Postpone additional UAS purchases until recommendation #1 has been implemented. UNQUOTE
US Gov sites in general (2 July 13)

This is not a complete directory of US government sites. It is merely some links which may be helpful for this research.

590
Data.gov DOT.gov USA.gov FOIA.GOV590
http://www.citizensforethics.org/blog/entry/gao-report-foia-portal-battle-department-of-justice
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM Plainlanguage.gov Recovery.gov Regulations.gov Index of US Departments and Agencies.591
News and Research (2 June 24)

Here are some starting points for links to more information. Additional links may be provided within the context of other chapters in these notes. Bloomberg May 2012 news article on:592 how local law enforcement is typically using drones; and financials info on the industry; Christian Science Monitor o 2012 June 16 Are Drones over America spying on you?593 CNN Security Clearance o 2012 May 23 Deadly drones and the classified conundrum594 Drone shot down over Texas, as a protest.595 Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF)596 used Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get at a list of organizations associated with FAA certification of drone activity over the USA, and put all of that on a map.597 Fact over Fiction web site has been retired.598 I had used it as a source for some of my info. o Its organizer suggests the following alternative sites for future research: o infowars.com o drudgereport.com o Rense.com o RT.com o naturalnews.com o prisonplanet.tv Guardian of Britain has multiple stories about drones.599 o 2012 June 19 Activists seek to lift the lid of secrecy on targeted killings 600 New Statesman special June 2012 issue601 looks in detail at the expansion of drones602 both in warfare and in civilian airspace.603 As I shared elsewhere in
591 592
http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/index.shtml http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-31/drones-take-to-american-skies-on-police-searchmissions 593 http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0616/Drones-over-America.-Are-they-spying-on-you 594 http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/23/deadly-drones-and-the-classified-conundrum/ 595 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGgEFOD8Jlo 596 https://www.eff.org/ 597 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/faa-releases-its-list-drone-certificates-leaves-many-questionsunanswered https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214769660919529725423.0004bde31d74fe6eb1ece&hl= en&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=45.336702,-110.039062&spn=58.987964,112.5&z=3&source=embed 598 https://factoverfictionblog.wordpress.com/ Fact over Fiction has retired, see News & Research. 599 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/unmanned-drones 600 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/20/drone-strikes-targeted-killings-case 601 http://www.newstatesman.com/ 602 http://www.newstatesman.com/economics/economics/2012/05/drones
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM these notes, the people inside Pakistan and other nations think of their nations as civilian territory, not a war zone. Civilian airspace, with no such controversy, is not just USA, but also London Olympics. Press TV is news in English from Iran, which is not known for a free press. Here they report on USA allegedly attacking innocent civilians with drones.604 Propublicas605 May 2012: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Drones.606. This is a very detailed article, with massive links to other resources. It also gets periodic updates, as more info becomes available, and is drawn to their attention. Washington Times Feb 2012 article on US Domestic Drone authorization legislation, and what privacy advocates are doing about this.607 Washington Times articles about US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).608 World wide news coverage of what the USA is allegedly doing with drones:609
Science and Technology Advances (2 Aug 15)

Drones are now small enough to be carried in soldier backpacks. 610 Drones can now be powered by solar energy, staying aloft all day,611 but maybe they cannot store up enough energy from daylight, to continue operating for much of the night. I find this story, about Israel, out of Russia, to be incredulous.612 But I recognize that the smaller a craft, the more air worthy. Weight to transport is based on volume (3 dimensions). Ability to be airborne is based on 2 dimensions (wing surface).
Drone mistaken for UFO (2 June 20)

Here is a big drone, mistaken for a UFO.613
Reporter veracity (2 June 20) !

Historically, I have found that news stories about factual events, are more reliable the closer we get to the actual activity. A news media person, who is at the site where something happened, is likely to be a direct witness to the results, and know the context of the place where it happened. The further away we get, the more the story is being re603 604
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/06/14/death-from-above-the-new-statesmans-drones-issue/ http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/13/246056/us-drones-target-innocent-civilians/ 605 https://www.propublica.org/ 606 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones 607 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-near-you/?page=all 608 http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/federal-aviation-administration/ 609 http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/31/covert-war-drone-investigation-covereinternationally/ 610 http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/us-forces-to-deploy-pintsized-drones-soon/1011110.html http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/US-deploys-pint-sized-drones-inAfghanistan/Article1-870933.aspx 611 http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidferris/2012/08/16/this-solar-powered-drone-will-watch-you-allday/?ss=innovation-science 612 https://rt.com/news/israel-drone-indoor-butterfly-672/ 613 http://www.geekosystem.com/x47b-roadtrip/
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written by people who do not have the latest facts, and are speculating through their notions of what might be root causes, based on prior experience and coverage of events similar in appearance. We must note that news media is not free around the world, and in fact in recent years many places, where news media used to be relatively free, is under serious attack. In some places in the world, if a journalist wants to stay alive, relatively unharmed, they cannot write anything which is contrary to local government policy, and also not offend major local institutions, like the drug cartels. Censorship is implemented many different ways in different regions of the world. This means that a lot of international news media can be colored by relations between the various nations. Just as in the USA, Iran and North Korea are today seen as bad buys, with communist nations viewed that way a few decades ago, virtually every nation in the world has its friends and enemies, which will distort coverage of what is happening with them, when produced by news media which is not free to write whatever they think is the truth. So for purposes of these notes, I am being extra careful to identify nation from where I am getting the news, when it is outside of what we normally consider to be western news media. Then at the time, sometimes including some context as to why this is important.
Revision History (3 Apr 05)

Here is additional aid for people revisiting my notes. Where has there been the most significant growth, in addition to the hints implied by chapter headings with date in parentheses, showing when I last added anything to a chapter, such as an additional citation? Note that I also periodically move some chapters from one split area to another, to help improve overall organization, as some sub-topics become more important.
2013 Apr-5 split Drone Ed from Drone Reports. o Drone Ed to focus on starting places for Drone Controversies Education, while Drone Reports to continue to be a directory of detail drone info. 2012 Nov-09 Reports V 4.88 shared 37 pages, 241 foot, 590k Doc, 320k PDF. o I have been providing citations: when and where I got these docs from. o V 4.88 listed 131 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits. 7 suggested key education 63 Drone downloads 1 Disasters 4 Earth Quake 21 National Security 5 Scandals
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 23 Later 7 Scribd mentioned 2012 Nov-02 Reports V 4.87 shared 33 pages, 210 foot, 520k doc, 295k PDF. o V 4.87 listed 116 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits. 7 suggested key education 60 Drone downloads 1 Disasters 4 Earth Quake 13 National Security 4 Scandals 20 Later 7 Scribd mentioned 2012 Nov-02 Terms V 4.86 shared 166 pages, 538 foot, 2.5k doc, 1.4k PDF o 970 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 4.86 Terms. o Additions and revisions after 10-16 v 4.78 Drone Terms: o Continued growth in acronyms and concepts. o Drone Police growth in citations. o Fusion Center (National Security focus) quality of info collected sounds like a return to what the Church Commission found, where enemies of the US Constitution & Civil Rights, have run amuck, within the very people whose duty it is to enforce such concepts. Thus, I need to grow Church Commission in terminology definitions, and mitigation review. What should they have done differently, to try to fix this problem? Is this a concept taught in public education civic classes? 2012 Oct-28 Nations V 4.85 shared 35 pages, 166 foot, 820k Doc, 400k PDF. o Major additions and revisions after 10-13 v 4.75 Drone Nations: o 84-98 nations, now where drones operate, plus one terrorist organization. o I reacted to another damn silly untrue news media article, identifying the only nations using drones to attack other nations, where 3 were listed I found and documented that 11+ nations have used drones in military attacks, where it is 18+ nations where the military attacks took place. o Maybe 30% growth in Drone Nations doc since last sharing. 2012 Oct-26 Dates V 4.84 shared 32 pages; 144 foot; 422k Doc; 258k PDF. o Time line calendar of what allegedly happened when, how we found out, thanks to key publications, when they came out. o Major additions and revisions after 10-9 v 4.62 Drone Dates: o Minor: 2004 ASP; 2008 GAO; 2012 lots of little stories: Hezbollah drone to Israel; a protest, hearing; court cases, law suits. 2012 Oct-25 Reports V 4.83 shared 29 pages; 178 foot; 456k Doc; 275k PDF. o V 4.83 listed 91 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits. 7 suggested key education 50 Drone downloads 1 Disasters
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 3 Earth Quake 7 National Security 2 Scandals 14 Later 7 Scribd mentioned 2012 Oct-24 Scribd V 4.82 shared 66 pages; 251 foot; 778k Doc; 475k PDF o Major updates, since prior version: o Road Map to Understanding; Pakistan Living Under Drones. o ACLU (& EFF) FOIA on Domestic USA Drones. 2012 Oct-18 Notes V 4.81 shared 92 pages, 517 Foot, 1312k Doc, 540k PDF o Major updates, since prior version: o US Congress section got more info. o Financial Alternatives chapter addresses: EPIC testimony to Congress about privacy protections, and law enforcement drone missions, more appropriate under DHS, which also has to clean their own house; Montgomery County, Texas, Sheriff Office. o Try to correlate conflicting stories from credible sources on police drones o GAO finds barriers for droning
Issu Natn Note Rep Scr Term to 2012 Oct-17 (2 Oct 19) 2012 Oct-17 Issues V 4.8 shared 30 pages, 82 foot, Doc 296k, PDF 212k.
o Where the beginning is a list of issues, that concern many people, worth exploring and figuring out, towards the end is what I have figured out which disturbs me greatly about the nations vulnerability to a great spectrum of threats, apparently not on the radar screens of the people in charge of National Defense, and serious holes in what passes for privacy protection for the people. In this stage of development of my notes, I explained Manchurian Chip, and correlations from multiple reports. 2012 Oct-17 Reports V 4.79 shared 27 pages, 161 foot, Doc 413k, PDF 252k. o V 4.79 listed 81 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits. 7 suggested key education 47 Drone downloads 8 National Security 12 Later 7 Scribd mentioned o GPS Spoofing source (in Congress July 2012 Testimony) what the Engineering professor said, vs. other positions, imply concerns. o Scribd directory moved Notes to Reports. 2012 Oct-16 Terms V 4.78 = 145 pages, 486 foot, Doc 2,247k, PDF 1,267k. o 870 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 4.78 Terms. o Additions to: GPS Spoofing; Targeted Killing; UN Charter. 2012 Oct-14 Issues V 4.77 shared 21 pages, 67 foot, Doc 224k, PDF 167k. o Intro Oxymoron that Killing Saves Lives. o Near end start Government can of worms. Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 2012 Oct-13 Reports V 4.76 shared 20 pages, 110 foot, Doc 284k, PDF 180k. o V 4.76 listed 71 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits. 6 suggested key education 45 Drone downloads 7 Scribd mentioned 8 National Security 11 More 2012 Oct-13 Nations V 4.75 shared 26 pages, 140 foot, Doc 685k, PDF 324k. o Hezbollah Drone over Israel. 2012 Oct-13 Notes V 4.74 shared 94 pages, 515 foot, Doc 1,312k, PDF 440k. o Some content moved Notes to Reports. Lots minor changes. o More US states with drones, cost comparison info, and financial scale. 2012 Oct-12 Terms V 4.73 shared 142 pages, 463 foot, Doc 2,233k, PDF 845k. o 845 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 4.73 Terms. o Latest addition in non-drone introductory section, regarding British Hillsborough disaster scandal. I need to move whole WHY correlation of common problems, out of Terms, undecided where it best belongs. o Drone Education and Activist sources moved from Terms to Reports. 2012 Oct-11 Scribd V 4.72 shared: 60 pages; 236 foot; Doc 690k; PDF 447k. o Lots of minor changes, but the major addition was my argument that: o Given that there is ample evidence Congress is doing drone oversight; o It is wrong for people to call upon Congress to do oversight of drones; o While at the same time try to explain why I think Congress should get an F grade for the quality of this work.
Date Issu Log Natn Note Rep Scr Ter to 2012 Oct-10 (2 Oct 15) 2012 Oct 10 Reports V 4.7 shared: 20 pages, 110 foot, 284k Doc, 180k PDF. o V 4.7 listed: 67 documents referenced, plus my 8 splits, so far.
6 suggested key education 44 drone downloads 7 Scribd mentioned 6 National Security 10 More 2012 Oct-10 Issues V 4.66 shared: 19 pages, 62 foot, 208k Doc, 142k PDF. o Legal Issues added. 2012 Oct-9 Notes V 4.62 shared 94 pages, 515 foot, 1.3m Doc, 529k PDF. o This after removal of spin-offs. Trickle of new info has been continuous. 2012 Oct-9 split Drone Dates from Drone Notes. o This is time line calendar of what allegedly happened when, how we found out, thanks to key publications, when they came out. o Scribd did not get copy of this, because I am concerned about
copyright associated with some heavily used sources.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM o V 4.62 started with: 29 page, 122 foot, 380k Doc, 280k PDF 2012 Oct-9 split Drone Log from Drone Notes. o Drone Log = Diary of my content evolution progress. This is more than Revision History. It is also tentative plans what next, and occasional checks to see if theres been eno ugh growth in some doc to justify a new edition sharing. I probably will not share with Scribd, because theres nothing in here about drones, just about my drone research doc organization. Revision history summary may return later. o V 4.6 started with: 24 page, 56 foot, 225k Doc, 148k PDF. 2012 Oct-9 split Drone Reports from Drone Notes. o Drone Reports = Reference Directory tracking source documents. o V 4.5 Issues started with: 15 pages, 88 footnotes, 230k Doc, 158k PDF o V 4.5 listed: 54 documents referenced, plus my 6 splits, so far. 6 suggested key education 41 drone downloads 7 Scribd mentioned 5 National Security 1 More 2012 Oct-9 Notes V 4.4 shared 147 pages, 735 foot, 1,963k Doc, 860k PDF. o Main reason share, before another planned split, where I have now figured out what I am going to call the new spin-offs.. 2012 Oct-8 Nations V 4.3 shared 24 pages, 120 foot, 537k Doc, 308k PDF. o 85 nations & regions with drone usage heavy citations. o UN treaties only apply to 193 UN member states, which approve them. I added list of what 7 nations614 exist which are not members of the UN. o I listed nations in relevant non-proliferation treaties, and mismatches. 2012 Oct-8 Scribd V 4.2 shared 52 pages, 206 footnotes, 620k doc, 400k PDF. o Now 46 docs in Scribd Drone Info collection, including some of mine. I have reviewed 13 of those docs, the latest on International Law. Latest review: UN report on legalities of targeted killing. I also have some reviews there, of key docs I not yet found on Scribd. Road map to rapid Drone Education is now in Terms and Scrib. I am undecided where it belongs, maybe in Drone Reports, split planned. 2012 Oct-7 Terms V 4.1 shared 138 page, 470 foot, 2.26m Doc, 1.2m PDF. o 830 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 4.1 Terms. o Latest focus = need for innocent victims to have remedy alternatives, what exists so far through International Law courts, international law within national legal systems, and whole Human Rights area. 2012 Oct-3 Terms V 4.0 shared 124 page, 433 foot, 2.13m Doc, 1.1m PDF. o 790 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 4.0 Terms. o o o o
614
It is controversial whether Palestine, and some others, should be considered to be nations.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM o Pakistan, introductory Education. 2012 Oct-2 Terms V 3.9 shared 120 page, 393 foot, 2 meg Doc, 1 meg PDF. o 770 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.9 Terms. o US Mexico Border Security, US Gov agencies with drones over USA.
Issu, Nation, Note, Term to 2012 Sep-30 (2 Oct 14) 2012 Sep-30 Nations V 3.8 shared 16 pages, 114 foot, 575k Doc, 270k PDF.
o o
85 nations & regions identified as having drones operating. 76 nations known to GAO I reconcile this. GAO was not counting
nations where they being attacked by drones, but not yet have their own, which can change rapidly as we have seen with Iran taking down a US drone, reverse engineering it, then exporting the technology. GAO also not counting nations, used as bases for other nations military drones, where sometimes they crash. 2012 Sep-30 split Drone Issues from Drone Notes. o V 3.7 Issues started with 16 pages, 54 footnotes, 185k Doc 115k PDF. 2012 Sep-29 Notes V 3.6 shared 144 pages, 730 foot, 1,940k Doc, 805k PDF. o Main reason share at this time, is before another planned split. o Main growth in: Safety Concerns US Congress Role 2012 Sep-27 Terms V 3.5 shared 1,935k Doc, 1,005k PDF. o 750 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.4 Terms. o I added clarity regarding people blaming President for Gun Walking. Both President Bush, then Obama, had no knowledge of this activity. President responsibility is shared with Congress, insofar as there should be management systems so that higher-ups know what lower-downs are really doing, to catch misconduct, and appearance of impropriety. I added to lists of what top guys should be accountable for. o I checked what agencies are in which departments of US government, intending later to update the info on them, to clarify this for purpose of improving future look up. Surprise CIA is independent of all depts. 2012 Sep-25 Terms V 3.4 shared 97 pages, 346 foot, 1,830k Doc, 930k PDF. o 695 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.4 Terms. o Non-drone content explained why included, in introduction. o I now have info on operations by several government agencies, notably ATF and DoJ, to move guns to Mexican cartels. It seems to me there is a lot in common with alleged misconduct by different: military; intelligence; law enforcement; and judicial authorities. They have flawed operations, flawed plans; apparently disconnected from the reason for them to exist, such as to protect the public, limit the people who get killed, due to their operations, to not include innocents.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 2012 Sep-21 Terms V 3.3 shared 77 pages, 340 foot, 1,855k Doc, 735k PDF. o 635 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.3 Terms. o I completed first read thru CRSx3 reports and started on GAOx8 where recently added by Nationx2, then GAO-USA went 2-3. Then distracted by IG report on ATF Gun Walking, in my National Security collection, separate from Drone collection, but there are similar concerns about alleged misconduct by government agents, problems with oversight. 2012 Sep-18 Notes V 3.2 shared 140 pages, 720 foot, 1,850k Doc, 785k PDF. o Drone Notes no longer had stuff split off to Nations, Scribd, Terms, but theres a continuing need to review pointers, to what used to be sections of same document. Much re-arranged. Significant growth in: Capabilities of Drones Congress Role Operation Costs Safety Concerns 2012 Sep-17 Terms V 3.1 shared 60 pages, 300 foot, 755k Doc, 400k PDF. o 545 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.1 Terms. o Mainly added USA legal implications of drone surveillance. 2012 Sep-15 Terms V 3.0 shared 50 pages, 274 foot, 575k Doc, 325k PDF. o 520 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 3.0 Terms. o Scribd Acronym section may have some additions, which have not yet made it into the complete Terms collection. 2012 Sep-10 I split Drone Nations separate from Drone Notes. o 80 nations & regions identified as having drones operating.
Notes, Scribd, Terms thru 2012 Sep-9 (2 Oct 14) 2012 Sep-9 V 2.8 Scribd shared 39 pages, 160 footnotes, 480k doc, 240k PDF.
o Now 35 docs in Scribd Drone Info collection. o I had now reviewed 12 of those docs, the newest 3 on International Law. o There has also been growth in Issues, and Corrections. 2012 Sep-7 V 2.7 Scribd uploaded 23 pages, 100 footnotes, 305k doc, 140k PDF, more than double size of initial launch. o Now 34 docs in Scribd Drone Info collection. o I had now reviewed 9 of those docs, including ACLU lawsuits, and FOIA requests, on behalf of allegedly innocent people killed by US drones, outside areas where any war declared, and who never had access to due process. Drone Wars UK Briefing. o Instead of Acronym section by document being reviewed, a consolidated reference in the front, since many docs shared similar needs. 2012 Sep-6 I split Drone Scribd separate from Drone Notes.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM o I had started a Drone Info collection on Scribd, intended to review individual docs there, correlate the value of their information. o Initially I found 19 docs for Scribd Drone Info collection. o I first reviewed 2 docs on police use of drones. I had previously reviewed many more docs on this topic, with what I learned from them, in Drone Notes, but due to my uncertainty about their copyright constraints, I had not uploaded these others to Scribd Drone Info collection. I see a need to correlate what I have learned from multiple sources, into a factual package of what we know so far. That may belong in the factual corrections section of Drone Scribd, with possible updates to Drone Issues, crosspointing appropriately. o I had separate sections with citations to factual corrections, so if authors, of the other reports, accepted the validity of my corrections, they could use info at those citation links in drafting future improvements of their own documents. o These other documents, as I went thru them, also resulted in additions for my Issues section of Drone Notes, plus some more stuff into Drone Terms. 2012 Sep-5 Document Split added to all so far, structured, so if someone gets one of my docs, perhaps forwarded by a friend, they also can locate the other(s). o 440 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 2.5 Terms. 2012 Sept-3 I split Drone Terms separate from Drone Notes. o 265 acronyms and concepts defined, in V 2.4, at time of initial split. o V 2.4 terms started 33 pages, 207 footnotes, 450k doc, 200k PDF. o With later splits, Drone Terms became the largest document in my collection, so its revision history will stay with Drone Notes, for the time being, as I try to figure out how to cope with that mushrooming size.
Notes thru 2012 Aug (2 Oct 14)

Until I did first split in September 2012, all of my notes were in one document. I needed to split into smaller chunks, since different people at different times interested in portions of the whole, and also sometimes easier for me to manage updates that way. 2012 Aug end V 2.3 notes now 148 pages, 850 footnotes, 2,110 doc, 815 PDF. o New sections and chapters were growing for Dates Time Line, and Technology Advances. o I nailed down how drones very different from other government regulation philosophies. o 70 nations & regions identified as having drones operating. o USA locations named with drones, had grown to: 8 cities 2 counties 14 states 26 academia 15 federal agencies
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM 2012 July end V 2.2 notes now 118 pages, 687 footnotes, 1,605 doc, 640k PDF. o I had started # $ symbols at end of chapter headings, to help me deal with different sources giving extremely different stories. From the # chapter headings, I summarized in a new chapter, how serious the different versions of reality. o I now had an Issues section, listing, in summary form, what topics have serious factual disputes, and what appear to be popular concerns, which belong on a check list of what should be investigated. o I now had Where in USA section to alphabetize geography of places, in USA, identified with drone operations, from multiple sources. o I now had a Drones Dimensions section with info on regulations for different kinds of craft in our skies. o I split my cloud collections by major focus areas of topics: Disaster Mitigation Drone Info How To various 2012 June-end, V 1.7 notes had grown to 50 pages, 580k doc, 280k PDF. o Allegations were investigated. o Identify where policy and oversight should come. o Show where it has allegedly started. o Feedback, from people looking at early shares, helped me improve organization. 2012 May, I started this research. o Prior to the start of this document, many friends had shared random links, to disturbing stories about drone trends, via social media. This became an effort to put the many links and contexts into a more coherent package. 2012 April, I had a major PC melt down, losing access to several Gig of data. o Fortunately I had shared much with the cloud and co-workers, but there was much I never reconstructed. I discovered that the state-of-art of getting doc back from pdf has a lot to be desired, even with paid versions. This education contributed to some alterations in how I conduct my research notes, backups, etc.
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Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM

Alister William Macintyre research notes Last updated 2013 April 05

Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones

Drone Research Notes 4/5/2013 11:34:02 PM

Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones

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Document split (3 Apr 01)

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Conflicting Stories Intro (2 July 17) # !

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Drone Research Notes in folder: Studies / Drones

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http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/opinion/bergen-drones-taliban-pakistan/index.html http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones 11 https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-drones

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Version numbers are incremented, with this document periodically uploaded

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Credits (3 Feb 18)

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Contacting author (2 July 10)

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Legislation US (3 Feb 20)

2003 Next Gen Air (2 Sep 18)

113rd Congress (3 Jan 07)

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1% protect from drone paparazzi (3 Mar 09)

American Privacy Act (3 Feb 19)

Police Domestic Drones (3 Feb 17)

Senate Judiciary Committee (3 Jan 27)

112th Congress (2 Sep 17)

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FAA Modernization 112 (3 Feb 20)

FAA Transparency 112 (2 Dec 19)

Privacy from Drones 112 (3 Feb 02)

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Domestic Weaponized Drones 112 (3 Jan 07)

EPA Drones 112 (2 Sep 18)

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Drone Warrant 112 (2 Oct 15)

US Congressional Oversight (2 July 03) !

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US Political Rule Making (2 June 28)

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Regulations Philosophy Paradigms (2 Aug 26)

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Activist Info Sources Directory (3 Feb 25) !

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