A long-endurance Scan Eagle drone launches from USS Comstock, via US Navy.
The Drone Census 2013-2014 is a joint initiative between Motherboard and the public records sleuths at MuckRock. We’re uncovering who’s using drones across the country, how they’re using them, and whether safeguards are in place to address concerns over civil liberties.
But first, you may have some questions.
What’s a drone, anyway?
Surprisingly, Congress offers one of the more succinct definitions. Per the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012:
The term "unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft.
Variously called “drones,” “unmanned aerial vehicles” and “remotely piloted vehicles,” these flying machines are defined by their absence of an onboard pilot. They can be flown by remote control within direct sight, by a pilot thousands of miles away, or even autonomously via a pre-programmed flight pattern. They can be as small as the 0.67 ounce Nano Hummingbird developed for DARPA or as large as the 66-foot wingspan MQ-9 Reaper flown by the CIA. It’s a broad category.
Who uses drones?
A wide range of government agencies are either already flying or investigating drones for deployment. While some of these entities are known, such as the military branches, the CIA, FBI, and Border Patrol, it’s been difficult to get a definitive count of which other federal, state and local government agencies have drones. The Federal Aviation Administration has put out some information as a result of two lawsuits brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, divulging that entities so far authorized to fly drones in domestic airspace include a mix of law enforcement, universities, emergency response agencies and the military. But even these lists (the FAA has released three of them so far) have been piecemeal and inconsistent.
Enter the Drone Census. Through government documents and freedom of information requests, Motherboard and MuckRock are compiling a comprehensive snapshot of drones in use across the country. You can help by submitting an agency to ask, whether it be your local police department, forest ranger, college, or dogcatcher. The weirder the query and longer the shot, the better, as far as we’re concerned. If it’s a government agency using drones in some capacity, we want to find it, even if it means sifting through a staggering haystack.
How are drones used?
Like manned aircraft, drones can be put to a variety of uses, both benign and controversial. Depending on the breed, a drone can fire missiles, transport cargo, shoot video, snap thermal photos, find lost hikers, dust crops, collect weather data or monitor wildfires, among other uses.
The Drone Census is aimed at mapping the various uses of drones today as well as how they’ll be used tomorrow, whether by law enforcement, conservation agencies, transportation authorities or any other government body.
What sorts of privacy issues surround drones?
Many civil liberties and privacy advocates worry that unfettered use of drones by government actors and private citizens alike will erode privacy and infringe on constitutional protections. Beyond fears over armed drones becoming a homefront reality, skeptics also question how the powerful sensors and surveillance equipment that come standard on many units will be used. Such drones can peer inside buildings via thermal cameras, collect surveillance imagery, intercept phone calls, and crack into wifi networks, all from high altitudes.
These potential privacy concerns make transparency around drones all the more pressing. The Drone Census will track and compare how agencies, regulators, and legislators around the country balance the technology’s vast potential with fundamental tenets of freedom and privacy.
How will you find out whether a particular agency uses drones?
Freedom of information laws at the state and federal levels require government agencies to release certain documents to the public upon request. Public records sleuths at MuckRock have crafted a comprehensive request (full text available here) for documents related to the acquisition, deployment and maintenance of drones, which will be sent to each agency of interest. These documents will be posted in full on the MuckRock website as we get them back.