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Illinois Police Drones: In a fascinating move by the Illinois House of Representatives, law enforcement is not allowed to use “on a drone any firearm, weaponized laser, kinetic impact projectile, chemical agent or irritant, or any other
21 lethal or non-lethal weapon.”
Given Robocop was filmed in nearby Detroit, it looks like if anyone actually builds a robotic police officer, it won’t be able to drive south for some deep-dish pizza.
The bill, HB3902 also states that police drones cannot collect identifying data about citizens.
” A law enforcement agency operating a drone under this Act is prohibited from using, during a flight, onboard facial recognition software that works in conjunction with the drone,” the lawmakers wrote. “A law enforcement agency operating a drone under this Act is prohibited from using any information gathered by a drone with any facial recognition software.”
Illinois Police Drones: Destroying Data
Any data collected must also be destroyed almost immediately. Police can only hold data in situations related to an ongoing investigation.
| 3 | (725 ILCS 167/25) | |
| 4 | Sec. 25. Information disclosure. | |
| 5 | (a) If a law enforcement agency uses a drone under Section | |
| 6 | 15 of this Act, the agency shall not disclose any information | |
| 7 | gathered by the drone, except that a supervisor of that agency | |
| 8 | may disclose particular information to another governmental | |
| 9 | government agency, if (1) there is reasonable suspicion that | |
| 10 | the information contains evidence of criminal activity, or (2) | |
| 11 | the information is relevant to an ongoing investigation or | |
| 12 | pending criminal trial. | |
| 13 | (b) Records of drone usage, including flight path data, | |
| 14 | metadata, or telemetry information of specific flights, if | |
| 15 | available, may be disclosed subject to the Freedom of | |
| 16 | Information Act and rules adopted under that Act. | |
| 17 | (c) A law enforcement agency that uses a drone under | |
| 18 | Section 15 shall neither sell any information gathered by the | |
| 19 | drone nor disclose any information gathered by the drone to | |
| 20 | any person to whom disclosure is not authorized under this | |
| 21 | Section. | |
| 22 | (d) Nothing in this Act prevents the disclosure of | |
| 23 | information through a court order or subpoena in connection | |
| 24 | with a criminal proceeding or if the disclosure is in regard to | |
| 25 | a completed traffic crash investigation. |
This is a surprisingly privacy-positive move for the Illinois Police Drones by a state legislature, especially in the heartland. It’s exciting and fascinating to think about how the police will, inevitably, figure out ways around these limitations so they can add flamethrowers to their DJI drones.
