New York Mayor: Domestic Drones and Face Recognition Inevitable

Michael Bloomberg - Cartoon (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

"It's scary, but what's the difference whether the drone is up in the air or on the building," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today during his weekly appearance on the John Gambling radio show, when Gambling asked him his thoughts on the use of domestic drones by the NYPD or any other entity.

"I mean intellectually I'd have trouble making a distinction. And you know, you're gonna have face-recognition software. People are working on that. ... You can't keep the tides from coming in. We're gonna have more visibility and less privacy. I don't see how you stop that."

In December, the New York Times editorial board warned that "the unmanned aircraft that most people associate with hunting terrorists and striking targets in Pakistan are on the brink of evolving into a big domestic industry," and urged Congress to protect Americans' right to privacy. Read more >>