JDSupra: Drone on Drones: New Court Decision Reflects Shifting Views on Privacy in Public

JDSupra: Drone on Drones: New Court Decision Reflects Shifting Views on Privacy in Public by Jordan Ferguson & Benjamin Hampton:

Whenever drone policy is raised as a topic, privacy concerns follow close behind it as a discussion point. The idea of aerial surveillance that is cheaper, less time-intensive and requires fewer man hours to get off the ground leads immediately to concerns about the development of a surveillance state, where individuals can be monitored round the clock, and every public action can be recorded for posterity. Current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence indicates this might not be constitutionally problematic — the Supreme Court has twice held that the Fourth Amendment does not require police to obtain a warrant before observing what any other member of the public could with the naked eye, even when that observation takes place in the public airspace. Yet recent decisions indicate the law may be shifting to address the privacy concerns posed by drone technology.