Drones over Docklands Harbinger of the Future of Surveillance?

Talking to someone who protested the DESI arms trading show in Docklands, East London this summer, I was made aware that one or more of the companies at DESI were demonstrating drones above the streets of east London. I wasn’t able to find a published record of this, but I did come across an article about the proposed use of drones to survey crowds at the 2012 Olympics in London.

In future all public gatherings of note may be monitored by spy-in-the-sky robotic drones, which can say in the sky for hours and return high resolution photos for future viewing of security officers. With protesters now being rebranded as ‘domestic extremists’ by the police, this is a worrying trend. No more will the intimidating thud of police helicopters be heard overhead; now observations will be made quietly and almost unseen.

The Campaign Against Drones, Creech Air Force Base, Nevada

This article on drones by Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell talks about their vigil outside a drone base in the US, at Creech Air Force Base, in Nevada. Another article from this same campaign. A Franciscan campaign on the drone issue in Nevada is here.

YouTube videos of the L-3 Wescam protest

These are YouTube videos made relating to the Burlington Wescam protest in 2006. Have a look and support the peaceful demonstrators who made this protest.

Mother’s Day at Wescam

Wescam: The Military Industrial Complex in Canada

Wescam: The Nuremburg Principles: Contemporary Applications