Border security issues (week 10) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Border security issues (week 10) - Essay Example Drones are radio-controlled aircrafts or ships or in unmanned aerial vehicles abbreviated as UAV (NOVA, 2013). According to Jones (2013), currently, the law enforcement agency officials say that such spy programs are useful when it comes to border surveillance, even when they are costly. Jones points out that each drone goes for $18 million and its support systems (Jones, 2013). Such activities carried out at the border by the law enforcement agencies are helpful because they are the key to protecting the American citizens. Nonetheless, there is an extent to which such technology is useful. Using this technology to threaten individual privacy rights as guaranteed by the American constitution is not the solution to defeating terrorists and drug gangs at the border. On a domestic level, drones are used when there are criminal investigations as a way of finding missing persons, when there are natural disasters and monitoring hostage situations. Drones should not be used on Americans who are not criminals to check their travel patterns, banks that they visit and carrying out searches on people’s neighborhoods and houses without court orders. According to Cornwell (2013), domestic drones look like small helicopters and radios. Though they are flown by hobbyist, there is a possibility that they have cameras that are used to capture people (Cornwell, 2013). According to Cornwell (2013), domestic drones can take pictures of people’s backyards because the Federal Aviation Administration approved t he use of more than 1,400 drones in 2006. This abuses the privacy rights that Americans are entitled to as citizens. Cornwell, L. (2013, April 08). Drone regulations: Spying concerns prompt states to consider legislation. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from