Baltimore police to expunge spy plane records in settlement

BALTIMORE (AP) — Records and data collected by a now-defunct aerial surveillance program in Baltimore will be expunged as part of a federal lawsuit settlement filed this week. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Baltimore Police Department and Persistent Surveillance Systems will dispose of all records except those related to ongoing prosecutions. The technology was secretly tested in Baltimore in 2016 in a trial funded by a pair of Texas philanthropists. Residents and top city officials were unaware of the test until news outlets revealed it. In 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit to stop another trial. In June, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor.