Vermont Attorney General has privacy concerns about towers at Canadian border
MONTPELIER, VT.–
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan states he’s worried by the personal privacy ramifications of a series of monitoring towers federal authorities are wishing to construct along the state’s border with Quebec.
Donovan stated he acknowledged the requirement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to keep track of the border for unlawful activities.
“My expectation is that the CBP, in service to the public, will balance its needs for public safety with the privacy interest of those it is sworn to protect,” Donovan stated in a declaration releasedTuesday “CBP has failed to make a compelling case that the scale and scope of the proposed surveillance is ultimately necessary, and it has failed to adequately take into account Vermonters’ privacy concerns.”
Last month the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union likewise revealed personal privacy issues about the proposition.
CBP representative Michael Niezgoda stated Wednesday there are more than 2 lots comparable towers that have actually remained in usage for about a years even more west in the Border Patrol’s Buffalo and Detroit sectors and they have actually not triggered any issue.
He stated the towers have actually assisted capture unlawful border crossers, consisting of both human and drug smugglers.
A 30-day remark duration closed previously this month for a draft ecological evaluation and finding of no considerable effect for the proposed stage 1 Remote Video Surveillance System for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector, that includes Vermont, New Hampshire and a part of upstate New York.
The proposition consists of 2 places in Champlain, New York, and the Vermont neighborhoods of Highgate Center, Franklin, Richford, Derby, Derby Line and North Troy.
Janet McFetridge, the mayor of Champlain, New York, stated Wednesday there had not been any opposition to the proposition in her neighborhood.
