Today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller was asked by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about the FBI’s use of drones for surveillance over American soil. His answer? Yes, but “in a very, very minimal way, very seldom.”
Although drones over American soil is not news, their deployment as instruments of domestic surveillance is. As far back as early 2013 the House of Representatives was discussing the privacy issues raised by the use of drones for law enforcement, which are scheduled to be widespread by 2015.
Drones are already used by law enforcement on the United States borders with the United States, Mexico and Canada as well as various police departments across the country.
