Drones Against Crime

June 15, 2012

Published in Folha.com (Folha de Sao Paulo)
(Brazil) on 15 June 2012
by Verena Fornetti (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Jane Dorwart. Edited by Audrey Agot.

Small drones (unmanned aircrafts) are being used on U.S. territory to combat crime. They fly low and send images to security organizations. Each one costs $176 million dollars. For Senator Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, this is synonymous with an invasion of the privacy of American citizens and is spying on the citizens' lives.

Paul proposes a law to ban the use of drones within the country, unless the searches are authorized by the judiciary and based on concrete reasons.

"I am not against the use of technology itself. What I am defending is the constitutional process and protection of our civil liberties. It is not that I am against the police using cars, planes and robots, but no police should do this without asking permission of a judge", he said.*

Paul states he does not want a police-state that controls every minute of its citizen's lives.

The Republican Representative Austin Scott of Georgia supports Paul's position. "…when I'm out hunting on my property, I don't want them spying on me. And I'm not a hunter. But when I'm separating out my recyclables, I don't want them having a drone to make sure I'm putting my newspaper in the proper bin."

*Editor’s note: The original quote, although accurately translated, could not be verified.

Drones contra o crime

Pequenos drones (aeronaves não tripuladas) estão sendo usados dentro do território americano para combater o crime. Eles voam baixo e mandam imagens para órgãos de segurança. Cada um custa US$ 176 milhões. Para o senador Rand Paul, filho de Ron Paul, isso é sinônimo de invadir a privacidade dos americanos e espionar a vida dos cidadãos.
Paul propôs uma lei para banir o uso de drones dentro do país, a não ser quando as buscas são autorizadas judicialmente e baseadas em razões concretas.
“Não sou contra o uso da tecnologia em si. O que eu defendo são os processos constitucionais e a proteção das nossas liberdades civis. Não é que eu não concorde com a polícia usando carros, aviões ou robôs, mas nenhum policial pode fazer isso sem pedir permissão a um juiz”, disse.
Paul afirma que não quer um Estado babá, que controle cada minuto da vida dos cidadãos.
O deputado republicano Austin Scott, da Geórgia, defende a proibição: “Quando estiver caçando na minha propriedade, não quero o governo me espionando. E eu nem caço. Mas quando eu estiver separando meu lixo reciclável, não quero o governo sabendo por um drone se eu coloco o jornal no recipiente certo”.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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