Aspen
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The NYPD reached out to Westport police for contact information regarding Draganfly, the Canadian company that manufactures the drone.
Draganfly and the NYPD are now in “cursory talks,” nevertheless the department stated, “there are no plans at this time to purchase this particular product,” according to The Post.
The Connecticut Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement regarding the proposed plan from Westport Police in April, calling it an invasion of privacy.
“The Westport Police Department has announced a new drone pilot program which, police say, will be used to ‘monitor’ social distancing and ‘identify’ people’s health symptoms, such as fevers or coughs,” the statement began.
David McGuire, state executive director of the ACLU in Connecticut, cautioning against such programs in the future.
“We shouldn’t write off tools that might help mitigate the problem. But we also must recognize that technology is no magic pill to stemming the pandemic,” McGuire says in the statement. “Towns and the state should be wary of self-interested, privacy-invading companies using COVID-19 as a chance to market their products and create future business opportunities.”
He added, “Any new surveillance measure that isn’t being advocated for by public health professionals and restricted solely for public health use should be promptly rejected, and we are naturally skeptical of towns announcing these kinds of partnerships without information about who is operating the drones, what data they will collect, or how or if that data will be stored, shared, or sold.”
https://www.reporter.am/nypd-shows-interest-in-pandemic-drones-that-outraged-conn-town-report/
Draganfly and the NYPD are now in “cursory talks,” nevertheless the department stated, “there are no plans at this time to purchase this particular product,” according to The Post.
The Connecticut Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement regarding the proposed plan from Westport Police in April, calling it an invasion of privacy.
“The Westport Police Department has announced a new drone pilot program which, police say, will be used to ‘monitor’ social distancing and ‘identify’ people’s health symptoms, such as fevers or coughs,” the statement began.
David McGuire, state executive director of the ACLU in Connecticut, cautioning against such programs in the future.
“We shouldn’t write off tools that might help mitigate the problem. But we also must recognize that technology is no magic pill to stemming the pandemic,” McGuire says in the statement. “Towns and the state should be wary of self-interested, privacy-invading companies using COVID-19 as a chance to market their products and create future business opportunities.”
He added, “Any new surveillance measure that isn’t being advocated for by public health professionals and restricted solely for public health use should be promptly rejected, and we are naturally skeptical of towns announcing these kinds of partnerships without information about who is operating the drones, what data they will collect, or how or if that data will be stored, shared, or sold.”
https://www.reporter.am/nypd-shows-interest-in-pandemic-drones-that-outraged-conn-town-report/
