FOIA Docs: US Cities Plan Spy Drone Fleets

Lawsuit Provides Glimpse Into America's Drone-Filled Future

Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show a disturbingly large interest in drone surveillance within the United States, with a number of city police departments preparing to turn the Obama Administration’s favorite weapon of war inward as a tool of mass surveillance.

Included were a list of all public and private entities that have sought authorization for drone flights, and a number of certificates issued to drone manufacturers showing that the domain of military and CIA spies could soon blanket the entire nation.

An indication of how hush-hush this whole thing is, the documents came only after lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to force the FAA to comply with the FOIA requests.

EFF warned that the drones pose a serious threat to personal privacy, which of course is the whole point since they are surveillance drones. The documents suggest this is a threat the American public will have to deal with sooner rather than later.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.