The Alameda County, California sheriff's office has been forced to suspend the purchase of a surveillance drone, after constitutionalists and activists slammed the agency with concerns that the use of the unmanned aerial vehicle would violate privacy protections, the New American website reports today (December 5, 2012).
Sheriff Gregory Ahern had asked the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to approve a $31,646 grant to purchase a drone. The money was part of a $1.2 million grant handed out by the California Emergency Management Agency.
County supervisors were preparing to vote on the use of grant money for such a purpose, but the public outcry from civil rights attorneys and anti-drone advocates has now forced the sheriff's office to halt the decision.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Linda Lye stated that the proposal would allow virtual police "spying," adding that Sheriff Ahern was "not taking privacy issues seriously."
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