MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has published a petition on its website urging Governor of California, Jerry Brown, to sign the Assembly Bill (AB) 1327 that would require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant for the use of surveillance drones.
The ACLU appealed to the public to influence Brown’s decision on the AB 1327 with a petition letter “Tell Gov. Brown: No Police Drones Without a Warrant” published on the ACLU website on September 5.
"We are united because we believe it's a basic American principle that police need a warrant before they can invade our privacy and put us under surveillance. California leads the nation in technological innovation. It should also lead the nation in protecting the privacy of its citizens. AB 1327 is a positive step forward for civil rights and public safety," the petition reads.
In its petition, ACLU refers to a poll conducted in 2012, which found that 76 percent of Americans agreed that police should get a warrant before using drones for surveillance.
Governor Jerry Brown has until the end of September to either sign or veto the Bill.
In the meantime, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which filed a lawsuit in 2012 against The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seeking disclosure of the data on which agencies use drones, is not satisfied with the provisions of the AB 1327. According to the EFF, the bill does not address the federal government, which should implement laws requiring information on who is authorized to fly the drones to be made public.
"They should just make that information available to the public. They should create a format that's easily searchable," Jennifer Lynch, attorney with EFF told 10news Monday.
Nine states: Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin already have warrant requirements in place.
