Tag Archive: Surveillance


Tiny Device Will Detect Domestic Drones

 

” Worried about drones spying on you? Soon, a device might be able to send you text and email alerts that let you know when a drone is nearby.

[ALSO: Domestic Drone Arrest Database Being Built by Defense Lawyers Group]

A Washington, D.C.-based engineer is working on the “Drone Shield,” a small, Wi-Fi-connected device that uses a microphone to detect a drone’s “acoustic signatures” (sound frequency and spectrum) when it’s within range.

The company’s founder, John Franklin, who has been working in aerospace engineering for seven years, says he hopes to start selling the device sometime this year. He is using the Kickstarter-like IndieGoGo to finance the project.

The device will cost $69 and will be about the size of a USB thumb drive. It will use Raspberry Pi – a tiny, $25 computer – and commercially available microphones to detect drones. He says he imagines that people will attach the Drone Shield to their fences or roofs to protect their home from surveillance.”

 

 

 

 

About these ads

Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional, Bans Them

 

 

 

 

” Ultra-secret national security letters that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech, a federal judge in California ruled in a decision released Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing so-called NSLs across the board, in a stunning defeat for the Obama administration’s surveillance practices. She also ordered the government to cease enforcing the gag provision in any other cases. However, she stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are very pleased that the Court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute,” said Matt Zimmerman, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a challenge to NSLs on behalf of an unknown telecom that received an NSL in 2011. “The government’s gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools. Our client looks forward to the day when it can publicly discuss its experience.” “

 

 

 

—-

Pentagon: Iranian Plane Pursued US Spy Drone

 

 

” An Iranian fighter jet approached a U.S. surveillance drone over the Gulf but broke off its pursuit after the pilot of a U.S. escort plane radioed a verbal warning, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said the incident occurred Tuesday and that the unarmed MQ-1 Predator surveillance drone as well as two U.S. military escort planes remained over international waters at all times.

Little said the drone was conducting a “routine classified” surveillance mission.”

He said the Iranian F-4 plane came as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers)to the drone before it departed.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game of Drones

 

 

 

” True enough: as Stanford Law’s Ryan Calo notes, under current law, “citizens do not enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in public, nor even on the portions of their property visible from a public vantage.”

That’s a problem. Drone technology dramatically enhances the government’s ability to monitor citizens in public places and on their own property — and privacy law hasn’t kept pace with technological change.

Law enforcement agencies already have access to some 146 commercial drones — and that may be just the beginning as drones get smaller and more capable.

Defense contractor AeroVironment is perfecting the “Nano Hummingbird,” a drone that weighs less than an AA battery and is capable of alighting on a window ledge to record video.”

 

 

Mini Drones: Army Deploys Tiny Helicopters

 

 

 

” British troops are using a nano drone just 10cm long and weighing 16 grams on the front line in Afghanistan to provide vital information on the ground.

They are the first to use the state-of-the-art handheld tiny surveillance helicopters, which relay reliable full motion video and still images back to the devices’ handlers in the battlefield.

The Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle is the size of a child’s toy, measuring just 10cm (4 ins) by 2.5cm (1 inch), and is equipped with a tiny camera.”

Obama Shuts Down Southern Defense Mechanism, Opens South To Attack

 

 

 

” As the Federal government spends billions of dollars to expand the surveillance and monitoring of U.S. citizens with electronic eavesdropping devices and drone aircraft, it has decided to shut down a surveillance system that protects the southern border and coastline against low-flying aircraft and missiles and assists U.S. Customs and Border Protection in interdicting illegal border crossings and smuggling.

 

According to an email to employees of Exelis Systems Corp., the company that built and maintains the system, the government has requested the program be shut down on March 15. Following is the text of the email:

Subject: TARS Contract Update

Tuesday, 15 January 2013, we received a government request for a proposal (RfP) to de-scope and close the TARS program by the end of the fiscal year. The government indicated that it does not intend to exercise the final two option years for the TARS contract. In the RfP, the government also indicated its intent that aerostat flight operations will cease on March 15, 2013, and that the remainder of the fiscal year will be used to deflate aerostats, disposition equipment, and prepare sites for permanent closure. We are currently reviewing all the details of the RfP and evaluating the possible impacts on the program and our workforce. We continue to communicate with the government on this matter, and we will have more information in the coming days and weeks.”

 

  Just what has this administration done to STRENGTHEN our security ? Anything ? Anywhere ? 

Photo3S-NIR™ Camera

 

photo3s near IR camera

 

” The Photo3S-NIR captures aerial video and high resolution still images in the near-infrared light spectrum. Both the Photo3S and Photo3S-NIR are 3-axis stabilized for stable imagery and precise tracking, and offer common benefits with Aeryon’s full line of integrated imaging payloads.

Military and Public Safety applications include detecting near-infrared light sources and indicators. Commercial and industrial applications include precision agriculture, assessing fire hazards, monitoring droughts, and other environmental projects. “

 

 

This little camera can be configured as this :

 

 

Aeryon Scout

 

Aeryon Scout

 

Which in turn can take photos like this :

 

 

Libyan Rebels IR

Libyan rebel artillery IR

HT/ Michael Yon

 

 

Being Libertarian

 

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,143 other followers