Border Patrol ( Surveillance ) Drones (CBC The Current )

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From: Elaine Hughes tybach@sasktel.net

 http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200804/20080421.html

Border Patrol Drones

On April 21, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President

George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderone got together for

the North American Leaders Summit in New Orleans. And one thing

that's sure to be on the agenda is border security, especially since

the first unmanned American surveillance drone is set to begin

hovering over the Canada-U.S. border sometime in the spring of 2008.

The drones are already on patrol on the US-Mexico border, and

American officials say the Predators have helped them catch thousands

of illegal immigrants.

Although the plan to bring this kind of high tech surveillance to the

Canada-U.S. border has privacy activists deeply worried, it's

something US Customs believes strongly in.

Douglas Koupash is the Executive Director of Mission Support in the

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine, and he

spoke to us from Washington.

Border Patrol Drones - Balancing Security and Privacy

Not everyone in the United States thinks this surveillance technology

is quite so benign. Barry Steinhardt, the Director of the Technology

and Liberty Program with the American Civil Liberties Union, is one

of them.

And for his perspective on balancing security and privacy, we were

joined from Montreal by Stephane Leman-Langlois, a professor at the

school of criminology at the University of Montreal. He focuses much

of his research on terrorism, security and surveillance.

Listen to Part One:

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200804/20080421.html

Part 1 CBC Radio The Current - April 21, 2008