The use of drones has been particularly helpful for the US military in the Middle East and Asia. Now, even "police departments, border patrols, power companies, news organizations and others wanting a bird's-eye view that's too impractical or dangerous for conventional planes or helicopters to get to" want their own toy drone as well. However, there are still many dilemmas that come along with the practical uses of a drone.
At the forefront of the opposition to giving the private sector access to these highly regulated, meticulously engineered machines is the question of civilian privacy as well as safety. With the drones requiring "routine and unfettered access to domestic airspace, including around airports and cities," these drones could go crashing into other airplanes or helicopters flying around. Furthermore, having access to these drones would give news organizations practically unlimited access to all events they wish to cover.
Personally, I find the thought of drones flying all over the country rather disturbing. There's no way to know who's on the other side controlling the drone or knowing what the drone is equipped with. Maybe it's just a harmless upgraded version of an RC helicopter or the drone could be used by the media to invade someone's privacy. Who knows?
What are your thoughts on these drones? Does mixing the military with domestic policy seem reasonable?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
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5 comments:
Personally I don't mind drones patrolling the skies. I'm doing nothing illegal, so I shouldn't have a problem. However, I can see why some people are scared that their privacy rights are being infringed upon. The government could potentially stalk you if they truly felt you were a threat, but I think drones can only increase our safety. They could more easily follow suspect of crimes or even find fugitives.
The drones remind me of the chaos with the new airport body scanner. People were freaked out that their privacy was being taken away. Now look at things, people don't seem to mind anymore. I think that eventually, people's fear will calm down and in the long run everybody will be a little safer.
I'd have to disagree with Mitchell here. Though I'm fine with the government watching people from the sky (although it does seem a little dystopian), I really don't like the idea that the media and other private companies could watch me every time I step outdoors. Especially with the modern media - I think this would basically be the end out any sort of outdoor private life for celebrities, and it would give the media and political parties many more oppurtunities to criticize people that they are stalking.
I think the idea of drones is different from that behind the public cameras they have in Britain, because these could potentially allow viewers to follow specified people anywhere, rather than being stuck in place.
But these drones will probably become free market goods soon anyway, given the way the US is going.
On the brighter side, maybe they'll let us mount lasers on the things and get into drone fights.
I think drones patrolling the skies is a bit scary. I don't want our skies littered with metal.
While I think the use of drones has its benefits, I think this use should be moderated. As Sophia mentioned, there is no way to determine who is operating the drone, and drones could gain access to anything they want at any time they want. I think drones, if integrated into domestic policy and security, could provide increased security and protection but would need to be strictly regulated and moderated.
Sophia brings up a very good point; how do we know which country owns which drone? While the US is (one of)the main manufacturers and the most frequent user of the drone, other countries, such as Iran and Israel, also use drones. Iran claims to have a long range attack drone that has been tested, so if it is true, they could pose a threat. I also agree that allowing the media to have access to drones would be detrimental to privacy if used "excessively", or for the wrong reasons. From an environmental standpoint, having too many drones could affect the birds, and depending on the type of fuel used, could either have a small effect or large effect on air pollution.
On a side note, yes drone fights would be interesting lol.
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