2. The biggest danger from drones isn’t invasion of privacy
Kumar admits that many people live in fear of camera-equipped drones. But the problem is that the legislation designed to combat these supposed privacy threats doesn’t actually deal with how RPVs actually work.
FAA regulations say you can’t fly personal drones above 400 feet over personal property. But is keeping drones at, say, 410 feet any more private? Your creepy neighbor leaning over your fence, taking photos with his phone is a bigger threat to your privacy than anything, as well as a more realistic one.
“Do people think about the number of pictures of them on the internet that were taken without their knowledge by smart phones and digital cameras?” Kumar asks. “Can you really prevent drones from taking pictures that [can’t already] be obtained on Google Earth?”
Mary Cummings, associate professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University, takes the argument a step further.
“It is actually very difficult to make sense out of what a ground control person sees from a drone camera,” she says. “It is like looking through a soda straw.” The military has the resources and trained personnel to do much more comprehensive surveillance, so she believes you shouldn’t worry about some inept peeping tom’s personal drone, like the ones we sometimes hear about in the news.
Brendan Schulman, an attorney specializing in laws surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles, points out that we don’t need special laws to prevent drones from invading our privacy. He says, “People also don’t seem to realize that existing laws concerning invasion of privacy, peeping toms, stalking, or unlawful surveillance already apply to the kind of concerns people keep talking about [with drones], so there is no need for an overreaching law specifically targeting drone technology. If someone is actually invading someone’s privacy, it is the misconduct that should be unlawful, regardless of the technology used.”
But... you should still be a little worried. Not about surveillance, per se, but that like any technology, flying robots can be used for nefarious purposes if they’re in the wrong hands.
“Any ‘drone’ can be hacked by a smart student in an hour,” Vijay Kumar points out. “Should we not be worrying about this instead? While the FAA is flogged for not being decisive, they are the only ones thinking seriously about safety. It amazes me that hobbyists can use ‘drones’ in populated areas, when we need drivers licenses to drive cars.”
