aerial surveillance
Miami-Dade Police Abandon Aerial Surveillance Plans
The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) is scrapping plans to test persistent aerial surveillance technology following criticism from privacy advocates. This kind of technology has prompted privacy concerns in others cities, with Baltimore being perhaps the most notable. One of the best-known aerial surveillance companies allows users to keep a roughly 25 square mile area under surveillance and comes with “Google Earth with TiVo” capability, The news from Miami-Dade county. while reassuring, underlines a number of issues concerning federalism, privacy, and transparency that lawmakers must tackle as aerial surveillance tools improve and proliferate.
FLIR Systems Buys Prox Dynamics For $134 million
Sensor developer FLIR Systems announced it has acquired unmanned aerial systems maker Prox Dynamics for $134 million in cash. Based in Oslo, Norway and founded in 2007 by pioneers in nano helicopter technologies, Prox Dynamics develops, manufactures, and distributes aerial sensors that are revolutionarily small, light, and covert surveillance systems. Prox Dynamics’ Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) features their Black Hornet aerial sensor and a hand controller, a system that is pocket sized and hand-launched by a soldier in the field, enabling a significant advantage in situational awareness and mission planning.