• Iran claims it is nearly finished extracting data from captured drone

    On Monday Iran claimed that it had nearly finished recovering data from a captured U.S. surveillance drone; The unmanned aerial vehicle has been identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel, nicknamed “The Beast of Kandahar,” a stealth drone designed by Lockheed Martin covertly to gather intelligence

  • Companies urged to limit sale of surveillance tech to repressive regimes

    The European Commission is urging private companies to limit the sale of surveillance technology to foreign countries that “repress” their people

  • Model airplane hits federal building

    Last week a three-foot model airplane crashed into a federal building in Waltham, Massachusetts; federal investigators from DHS and the FBI promptly began investigating the incident, but so far no evidence exists to suggest any foul play; earlier this year a 26-year old man from Massachusetts was arrested for plotting to attack the Pentagon with a remote-controlled plane packed with explosives

  • Push for greater use of drones in U.S.

    Several federal agencies want to see more drones deployed in the United States. DHS is the main federal agency to push for using UAVs in domestic missions. The Department of Justice, too, is working with aviation manufacturers and local law enforcement agencies to introduce drones to police and sheriffs departments. The Pentagon also wants to open more U.S. airspace for drone testing and deployment, as U.S. military and National Guard bases are hosting DHS drones.

  • Underwater drones help police keep harbors safe

    Growing attention to underwater security along U.S. coasts has resulted in an increasing reliance on a relatively new tactical weapon for the police: an unmanned submersible drone, often referred to as a remote-operated vehicle, or ROV. The NYPD has six of these underwater drones, similar to those in use by the United States military and by oil companies with offshore operations.

  • DARPA seeks mobile apps to fly drones

    DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, is seeking a mobile app to improve sensors for drones and other military surveillance, reconnaissance, and intelligence vehicles. The agency is seeking smartphone app developers for its Adaptable Sensor System (ADAPT) program. The program uses a commercial development model to facilitate rapid delivery and configuration of sensor systems, which typically take three to eight years to develop, the agency said.

  • Autonomous deployment vehicles in flight tests

    The Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program has successfully completed flight tests; the ADD concept is to enable small unmanned air vehicles (UAV) equipped with sensor payloads to be launched from aircraft (manned or unmanned), balloons, or precision guided munitions, and dispersed in selectable patterns around designated areas

  • Persistent undersea surveillance by autonomous robots

    The U.S. military plans to deploy squadrons of air, surface, and undersea robotic vehicles later this decade, and wants to make these vehicles more autonomous; researchers develop an algorithm that helps sea gliders decide when to spend more time looking at regions that have changes in activity or environmental factors; without the control algorithm, gliders paid equal attention to all areas and acquired less information

  • Increased use of UAVs leads to new job opportunities

    The growing importance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is producing new job opportunities across the United States, with more likely to come as drones enter the civilian realm; the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimates that 23,000 jobs could be added over the next fifteen years if drones are allowed in U.S. skies

  • Drones set to become ubiquitous in U.S. airspace

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could soon become commonplace in U.S. civilian airspace with farmers using them to spray crops, police deploying drones to gather intelligence ,and utility companies using them to monitor oil, gas, and water pipelines; next January the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is set to release new regulations on the use of small drones in the United States

  • British law enforcement exploits flaw in iTunes to spy

    British law enforcement agencies and Apple are coming under sharp criticism after it was discovered that authorities exploited a security flaw in iTunes to spy on individuals

  • Irish police consider deploying drones

    Police in northern Ireland are considering deploying small surveillance drones to help combat crime and the dissident republican threat as an alternative to helicopters; with police suffering budget shortages, many agencies cannot afford the roughly £7 million, or $11 million, a year it takes to maintain a helicopter

  • Surveillance plane to circle Lancaster ten hours a day

    Beginning in May, a Cessna 172 airplane will hover over the Lancaster, California for ten hours a day collecting intelligence and keeping an eye on residents; the surveillance program was recently approved by city leaders in an effort to fight crime, but the prospect of aerial surveillance has critics concerned about privacy violations

  • Plan for cameras and mics in U.K. cabs draws sharp criticism

    Privacy advocates in Oxford, Britain are up in arms over plans to install security cameras and audio recording cameras in every taxi; the city council recently passed a plan that would require every taxi driver in town to equip their cabs with the £460 devices by 2015 or have their license revoked

  • Drones and privacy

    With civilian unmanned surveillance drones now capable of listening in on cell phone conversations, monitoring Wi-Fi traffic, seeing into backyards and windows not visible from the street, and tracking a person’s movement privacy advocates are concerned that the rapid advances in technology could violate privacy rights