Domestic Drones?

Surveillance Drones. Type that into Google search and your results will yield some heated and controversial subjects such as “Domestic Drones” and “Are they spying on us?” Enhanced video surveillance from above is not a new subject. In fact the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as a surveillance, reconnaissance tool or warfare was by the Austrians in 1849 via hot air balloon to drop bombs. Today’s drones however yield much more calculated missions with specific results in mind and this is most likely why, with  the level of sophistication involved, has brought some people to revisit their Orwellian 1984 fears. Let’s be honest here. Most people have control issues and the fear of having your every move being watched overhead is disheartening indeed. Like it or not, many local police forces are incorporating video surveillance tools of the future to protect the population. The grey area behind the line of thinking “the people need protecting” is that people inherently would rather be left to their own devices. I can hardly blame anyone who doesn't want their every move watched like a…hawk. So where should we stand on this issue? Is there a best practices use for unmanned aerial video surveillance at home? Your local neighborhood probably already employs video surveillance on light poles to catch thieves and vandals. It’s very likely that your closest city has installed red light cameras to catch road violations. Critical infrastructure protection is in place via remote video surveillance to keep your local power grid from attacks. It’s not that far fetched to think that video surveillance drones will fly our skies here at home under the guise of making sure you are safe. But is that ok? You’ve had your own reality show for more than a decade already. Smile for the camera!