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Ground the expanding fleet of spy drones over US skies!
medea ..
started this petition to
The House and Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees
With little to no public debate, all major law enforcement agencies across the US – from Homeland Security, Border Control and the FBI to local police stations -- could soon unleash thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) over US skies.
The very same flying robots the US military and the CIA are using for covert war in the Middle East and northern Africa are coming home to roost.
This spring Congress quietly passed a bill that will rapidly expand the use of drones by local and state law enforcement - and within a decade over 30,000 drones could be patrolling US skies. These drones not only pose a threat to our privacy, but also to our safety — given their track record of crashing, the threat they pose to other aircraft, and their susceptibility to hacking. Unregulated, these drones could do massive damage to people, property and our freedoms. So let’s push Congress to ground these airborne robots until proper rules are put in place to ensure our privacy and safety are protected.
In the Middle East and North Africa, armed American drones have killed hundreds of civilians, according to investigative journalists and human rights researchers. And in the US the ACLU just launched a lawsuit against President Obama for the illegal assassination by drone of American citizens abroad.
Imagine the possible consequences when this drone technology is in the hands of law enforcement officials and even private corporations across the country. We’re already getting a scary taste of where this could lead: one police department in Texas has already said it plans to arm drones with tear gas, rubber bullets and taser technology!
With no laws and almost no oversight over this expanding army of Wild West robo-sheriffs over American skies, our basic rights are at risk. If enough of us raise our voices now, we can get the US Congress to agree to ground drones until we have clear rules to protect our rights and safety.
This spring Congress quietly passed a bill that will rapidly expand the use of drones by local and state law enforcement - and within a decade over 30,000 drones could be patrolling US skies. These drones not only pose a threat to our privacy, but also to our safety — given their track record of crashing, the threat they pose to other aircraft, and their susceptibility to hacking. Unregulated, these drones could do massive damage to people, property and our freedoms. So let’s push Congress to ground these airborne robots until proper rules are put in place to ensure our privacy and safety are protected.
In the Middle East and North Africa, armed American drones have killed hundreds of civilians, according to investigative journalists and human rights researchers. And in the US the ACLU just launched a lawsuit against President Obama for the illegal assassination by drone of American citizens abroad.
Imagine the possible consequences when this drone technology is in the hands of law enforcement officials and even private corporations across the country. We’re already getting a scary taste of where this could lead: one police department in Texas has already said it plans to arm drones with tear gas, rubber bullets and taser technology!
With no laws and almost no oversight over this expanding army of Wild West robo-sheriffs over American skies, our basic rights are at risk. If enough of us raise our voices now, we can get the US Congress to agree to ground drones until we have clear rules to protect our rights and safety.
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