Domestic Drone Surveillance: The Court's Epistemic Challenge and Wittgenstein's Actional Certainty

• Author: Robert Greenleaf Brice - Katrina L. Sifferd
• Position: Robert Greenleaf Brice is a lecturer in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Philosophy Department at Northern Kentucky University. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Michigan State University. - Katrina Sifferd is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Elmhurst College. She holds a J.D. and a PhD in philosophy from King's College London.
• Pages: 805-831

Domestic Drone Surveillance: The Court’s Epistemic

Challenge and Wittgenstein’s Actional Certainty

Robert Greenleaf Brice and Katrina L. Sifferd

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .................................................................................. 805

I. The Fourth Amendment: Searches and Privacy ........................... 808

A. Reasonable Searches and Probable Cause ............................. 808

B. Reasonable Expectation of Privacy ....................................... 812

II. The Court’s Epistemic Challenge: Common Sense

Knowledge and Actional Certainty .............................................. 815

A. Common Sense Philosophy ................................................... 815

B. Wittgenstein’s On Certainty .................................................. 817

C. Objections .............................................................................. 821

D. Wittgenstein’s Actional Certainty and Expectations

of Privacy ............................................................................... 822

III. The Fourth Amendment: A Wittgensteinian Approach ............... 824

A. Reasonable Expectation of Privacy and Actional Certainty .. 824

B. The Mosaic Theory of the Fourth Amendment ..................... 827

Conclusion .................................................................................... 830

INTRODUCTION

According to the Washington Post, between 2010 and 2012,

unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”), commonly known as “drones,” were

deployed nearly 700 times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on

behalf of local and state law enforcement agencies.1 In 2015, the Federal

Copyright 2017, by ROBERT GREENLEAF BRICE AND KATRINA L. SIFFERD.

 Robert Greenleaf Brice is a lecturer in the Sociology, Anthropology, and

Philosophy Department at Northern Kentucky University. He holds a PhD in

philosophy from Michigan State University.

 Katrina Sifferd is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Elmhurst

College. She holds a J.D. and a PhD in philosophy from King’s College London.

1. Craig Whitlock & Craig Timber, Border Patrol Drones Being Borrowed

by Other Agencies More Often Than Previously Known, WASH. POST (Jan. 14,

2014), http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/Police-Agencies-Using-Border-

Patrols-Drones-More-Often-Than-Thought.html [https://perma.cc/KNW8-HEAG].

806 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 77

Aviation Administration (“FAA”) began accepting applications for drone

licenses by law enforcement agencies.2 Given the number of different ways

drones can now aid departments in gathering intelligence, the number of

applications will likely only increase. Drones can be equipped with facial

recognition software,3 heat sensors, and other high-tech features, such as

microphones capable of detecting gunshots and even personal

conversations.4 Some military grade drones are equipped with “Wi-Fi

crackers” and bogus cell phone towers that allow law enforcement to

pinpoint a suspect’s location while simultaneously intercepting text

messages and phone calls.5 Some of these drones can remain airborne for

hours, even days. Tiny drones, also known as “insect drones” or “micro-

drones,” are currently in development and are said to be capable of going

completely undetected.6

Although drones can be used for a wide range of positive and

beneficial objectives—for example, crop and land surveys, power line and

pipeline inspections, forest fire detection, and search-and-rescue

missions7—some agencies have used drones in ways that raise serious

privacy concerns. For example, in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported

that police in Grand Forks, North Dakota had used a Predator B Drone—

2. Ben Wolfgang, FAA Chief Says Dr ones Will F orce Change at Agency,

WASH. TIMES (Aug. 7, 2012), http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/7

/faa-chief-says-drones-will-force-change-at-agency/ [https://perma.cc/WM3B-RP

BK].

3. Amanda Ziadeh, Drones Get Sightline Tracking, Facial Recognition Tech,

GCN (Nov. 7, 2016), https://gcn.com/articles/2016/11/07/drone-partnership.aspx

[https://perma.cc/Q9F5-EEJP].

4. Tina Moore, NYP D Considering Using Drones and Gunshot Detectors to

Fight Cr ime, N.Y. DAILY NEWS (May 20, 2014, 11:45 PM), http://www.nydaily

news.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nypd-drones-fight-crime-article-1.1799980 [https:

//perma.cc/VQ62-AAXS].

5. Andy Greenberg, Flying Drone Can Crack Wi-Fi Networks, Snoop on Cell

Phones, FORBES (July 28, 2011), http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011

/07/28/flying-drone-can-crack-wifi-networks-snoop-on-cell-phones/#55284a2f66f9

[https://perma.cc/8SGL-QLJ7].

6. Adam Piore, Rise of the Insect Drones, POPULAR SCI. (Jan. 29, 2014),

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/rise-insect-drones [https://perma.cc/T3CJ-

VTZG]. Insect drones were recently depicted in the 2015 movie, Eye in the Sky. EYE

IN THE SKY (Entertainment One & Raindog Films 2015).

7. Some agencies have used drones for the very purpose of search and rescue.

Dee J. Hall, Fitchburg Ma n Found Alive, WIS. ST. J. (Jul. 19, 2014), http://host.madi

son.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/fitchburg-man-found-alive-unharmed-af

ter-nearly-three-days-outside/article_f6274133-90b6-5282-98d8-1304bb6d1f8d.html

[https://perma.cc/DU43-KGNE].