Newly released documents, obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have revealed a series of small but significant details contained in Department of Homeland Security drone contracts.
Among them is a requirement for a “signals interception receiver,” which is a type of kit designed to suck up cell phone and radio communications as they are being transmitted.
A 2010 DHS “performance specification” document mentions how “communication relay and interception” are best performed by drones as an alternative to “sensors mounted in airships, aerostats, towers, and manned aircraft”—though it says the capability remains untested in the field.

EPIC, which obtained the documents after filing a Freedom of Information Act request, says it is now concerned about how electronic surveillance of communications could be conducted by DHS Customs and Border Patrol Agency drones to indiscriminately snoop on calls. “This raises questions about compliance with federal privacy laws and the scope of surveillance," Ginger McCall, director of EPIC’s open government project, said in an email.