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Cops can\u2019t attach weapons to drones in Illinois, starting today \u2014 and they can\u2019t use drones for facial recognition unless they\u2019re attempting to counter a terrorist attack, preventing \u201cimminent harm to life,\u201d or making sure a suspect doesn\u2019t get away. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But they can do something they couldn\u2019t before in Illinois: fly over public events at all<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today, the state signed the Drones as First Responders Act<\/a> into law (via Hacker News<\/a>). The new act modifies another one from 2014 \u2014 the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act, which has banned law enforcement from using drones to \u201cgather information\u201d in the state (aside from terrorist or imminent harm situations) for the past seven years. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new bill is designed to prevent shootings like the one<\/a> at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade last year, which state senator Julie Morrison argued<\/a> could have been prevented if not for that 2014 law. But it also limits drone weaponization and facial recognition over \u201cconcerns about drone surveillance and privacy,\u201d according to a release from Sen. Morrison<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today\u2019s changes also let law enforcement help conduct infrastructure inspections, and help first responders with their drones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s the new restriction on weaponization:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sec. 18<\/strong> Use of weapons<\/strong>.\u00a0A law enforcement agency operating a drone under this Act is prohibited from equipping or using on a drone any firearm, weaponized laser, kinetic impact projectile, chemical agent or irritant, or any other lethal or non-lethal weapon.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Law enforcement also still have to destroy information their drones collect within 30 days, unless it\u2019s relevant to an investigation, but there are new exceptions if the data is \u201cused exclusively for training purposes,\u201d or only contains metadata. Cops are also now prohibited from selling any information their drones collect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A number of states have banned weaponized drones in some form or another: the National Conference of State Legislators keeps this handy list of drone laws<\/a> enacted across each state \u2014 and as of 2017, Maine, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin had all barred police from using armed drones, according to CBS News<\/a>. Florida banned it later that year. Ohio is considering a ban<\/a> as well. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n