8 Alb. Govt. L. Rev. 313 (2015)
Abigail Rehfuss
The tension between national security and personal privacy
interests is not new, especially in light of the explosion of
surveillance technology in recent decades. Yet, the question still
remains unanswered: what is the proper balance between the
necessity of the government to keep people safe, and the need to preserve an individual’s fundamental right to privacy? In this
comment, I will argue that the domestic use of UAVs needs to be
integrated into our national security system if the government is
to keep pace with the intensifying range of formidable civil and
criminal issues afflicting the nation. In order to integrate these
aircraft systems into our national airspace while simultaneously
safeguarding the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment,
I endorse the view that the states must serve as the “beacon[s] of
protection” for their citizens by shaping their individual
constitutions to address current privacy concerns. I support this
proposition by endorsing the view that three distinct benefits
arise when the states are forced to be their own gatekeepers: first,
diverging state interpretations of current privacy laws are likely
to influence reform at the national level; second, inconsistent
interpretations among the states will underscore the instability of
the current law and help remove the arbitrariness and vagueness
of the law as it currently stands; and third, state constitutions
provide a greater source of protection to larger numbers of
people.
Ultimately, this comment supports the unprecedented
advantages that are anticipated to accompany the assimilation of
UAVs into the national airspace system, and it concludes that
any privacy concerns related to their use are best left to be dealt
with by the individual states. Thus, Part I will discuss the
historical background of UAVs, Part II will discuss the current
use of drones both abroad and at home, Part III will address
current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, and Part IV will
discuss the need for states to serve as independent guideposts for
their constituents.