Prevent invasive police drone surveillance.

UPDATE: Governor Lee signed this bill into law on May 18, 2021.

SB 258/HB 924 is a dangerous expansion of law enforcement’s ability to use drones. When police acquire drone technology, they acquire unprecedented power to invade our privacy. Drones can fly unnoticed — tracking us, peering into our homes, and recording our conversations. Regulation of law enforcement’s use of this technology is crucial to protecting our privacy. Yet this bill removes existing restrictions on drone usage, permitting police to use drones to “provide aerial coverage” for any event open to the public. It also extends the period law enforcement may retain data collected by drones — even if that data has no relevance to an ongoing investigation. By gutting our privacy protections, HB 924 hails a new era of invasive surveillance in Tennessee. This bill passed the Senate on April 8 and will be taken up on Tuesday, April 27 in the House Criminal Justice Committee. ACLU-TN Position: Oppose

TAKE ACTION: Please call members of the House Criminal Justice Committee and ask them to hold police accountable.

Sample Phone Script

Hello, my name is ________________. I am calling about to oppose HB 924 and keep police accountable.

When police acquire drone technology, they acquire unprecedented power to invade our privacy. Regulation of law enforcement’s use of this technology is crucial, but this bill removes existing restrictions on drone usage and extends the period law enforcement may retain data collected by drones — even if that data has no relevance to an ongoing investigation.

HB 924 hails a new era of invasive surveillance in Tennessee. I urge you to protect my privacy from invasive police drone surveillance by voting no on HB 924.

Thank you.

House Criminal Justice Committee Members: