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SF Drones under scrutiny
SF Drone and other programs are under scrutiny by privacy advocates.
SAN FRANCISCO - Privacy experts are raising concerns about San Francisco's expanding use of technology to tackle crime.
Since voters approved proposition E in 2024, San Francisco has deployed an array of new technologies to track down criminals, but some are worried the program is infringing on privacy.
Local perspective:
San Francisco police are increasingly using and touting the success of new technologies, including a network of license plate-reading cameras, surveillance cameras and drones for driving down crime 25% last year.
"2026 year to date, crime is down an additional 20%," San Francisco Police officer Robert Rueca said. "The drones have a huge aspect to bring down crimes."
Privacy advocates continue to warn about the potential for abuse and raise questions about what happens to the data after it's collected.
The other side:
Recently Wired magazine wrote about a link to hours of footage captured by drones.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the issue highlights one of the concerns about how that data are collected and stored.
"One thing that we've seen is that they're collecting so much footage that they can't even keep it safe. It's accessible to the web in a way that jeopardizes the privacy of San Franciscans, can't," Matthew Guariglia of the EFF said.
What they're saying:
For its part, San Francisco's Police Department says once they discovered a recent breach, they quickly severed the link, and say they have programs in place to make sure data captured by the cameras is safeguarded.
The department said safety versus security is a false dichotomy, that they can leverage these new technologies and respect the rights of people in the city. "With powerful technology comes great responsibility," Rueca said. "SFPD is leading the country in the usage of drones in that we are being responsible with very strong guardrails in place."
Privacy advocates say crime may be down, but it may have more to do with broader societal trends than San Francisco's adoption of these new technologies. They said they'd prefer to see the city invest in proven long-term methods for bringing down crime, like improving schools and more employment options.
"Getting footage of crime constantly does not equate to building sustainable safety for all people. San Francisco will probably learn that the next time there is a crime wave because crime ebbs and flows," Guariglia said. "Including in cities, like I said, in cities that don't have massive drone programs."
What's next:
At this point, there are no indications that the use of new technologies will slow in San Francisco. The latest data show that the city is launching the drones about 700 times per month, almost three times more per month than last year.