Our Fourth Amendment is meant to guarantee us a right to privacy. It says that we are to be free from the authoritarian ideal of constant surveillance, and that we are not to be unlawfully searched.
Unfortunately, modern technology has created a series of nightmares for those who are looking to maintain this inalienable right, as cameras and other data-harvesting devices continue to become more and more prevalent.
One of the latest advancements threatening our privacy are drones, which has found favor with police departments around the nation.
Now, the world’s most popular New Year’s Eve celebration will be monitored by these Orwellian eyes-in-the-sky.
New York City’s counterterrorism czar expects Times Square to be “the safest place on the planet Earth” on New Year’s Eve.
Thousands of police officers will be on duty for Tuesday night’s festivities, along with specialized units armed with long guns, bomb-sniffing dogs and other measures.
For the first time, police drones are expected to keep watch over the big, confetti-filled celebration — a year late after rain grounded the department’s unmanned eye-in-the-sky last year.
This year’s forecast calls for some clouds, but no rain and none of the bitter cold that iced out spectators two years ago.
The NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, John Miller, said stacking various security tools and techniques gives police “multiple chances to catch something coming through.”
We as Americans must soon decide just how much of this “big brother” technology we are willing to be subjected to without consent, or else we will be giving ourselves over to tyranny in no time.
