White House Wants Drone Shoot-Down Authority

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The White House plans to request that law enforcement and security agencies be permitted to track and shoot down civilian drones, according to Endgadget, a technology site. The proposal thus far lacks specifics, but would reportedly apply to multiple U.S. government agencies charged with security responsibilities.

The report surfaced at the FAA’s third annual Unmanned Aircraft Symposium held in Baltimore this week, even as the FAA itself pushes to expand the airspace to which unmanned aircraft have access. While it’s possible to track and defeat drones by hacking or jamming their radio control links, federal wiretapping and aviation regulations prohibit law enforcement from doing this, according to a Bloomberg report.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the FAA is considering regulations to require some small consumer drones to broadcast an identity tag and real-time location for law enforcement purposes. It’s unclear when such a regulation would be put into effect.

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