Drone Invasion Of Privacy May Be Solved By DroneShield

With the rise in personal drones being flown just about everywhere, it is going to start to raise privacy concerns for a growing population. With drone prices continuing to come down, just about anyone can buy a small drone and add a camera. Then can then spy on you for any number of reasons. Or they can see what you might have of value to steal. With the rise in drones, the idea of protecting yourself against drones spying on you is going to become very important. There is a coming new product called DroneShield which holds promise to help protect us against invasive drones.

The company preparing to release the Drone Shield has a web site at DroneShield.org. And they are also in the process of raising funding at Indiegogo right now. With 28 days left, they have raised over $8,000 for a goal of $3,500. With more than double of the funding campaign, this is has packed in a lot of interest from people who are more than likely very concerned about their privacy and drones. So, the big question right now is exactly what is the DroneShield going to do for me.

Using the Raspbery PI computer as the starting point, they are going to be adding other pieces that can listen for sounds of a drone and compare them to a known list of sounds. They can then let you know of a drone in close proximity. This will do nothing for high flying drones that are not being heard from the ground. But, for those personal drones which you can hear buzzing around, the DroneShield will alert you to one nearby. But, it requires that the sound being heard is a match to a known list. If it does not match that known list, you will not get an alert.

Obviously, there is going to be a lot of trial and error to get this right, but in the end, we can hope it delivers on what is being proposed. The DroneShield should provide those who purchase one with some added peace of mind. Right now, you can be part of the initial group of people by pledging $69. You can be part of the group who will receiving a DroneShield version 1 with an estimated delivery in August this year. If you are concerned about your privacy and the invasion of that privacy from drones, you need to take a look at this.

Drones Go Mainstream In Online Stores

Drones have become extremely popular with the public in spite of all the concerns that people have regarding the government. Those concerns include the US Government using drones against its citizens and is a big concern regardless of what is said to reassure the public. But, with lowering prices on drones and parts, it has come down to the point where just about anyone can go out and purchase one for personal use. The Parrot AR Drone has become a big favorite of many and with a price of about $300, anyone can have one. All you have to do is spend a little time looking around.

As an example of how popular drones have become, I did a Google search for "drone accessories" and at the top of the list was Brookstone which was rather surprising. They sell a wide variety of items, but I did not expect to see them selling drones. The next one I found was Amazon selling a long list of accessories and units. They always provide things either directly or from a 3rd party selling to meet everyone's needs. It seems that you can get replacement blades, hulls, or just about anything you might need to add or replace from an online site. It is a fast growing market right now.

There were some offerings online with a few that did surprise. Such as Verizon Wireless offering the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 for $299.99. A seller of mobile devices moving into selling what has become a hobby product is a surprise. Guess that is because so many of the drones can be controlled by a mobile device that wireless providers are getting in on the action. All of this is continuing to see growth.

And so much of this is for the hobbiest and how they love to fly things. For so many years, it has been the flying of model planes, some of which can get quite large in size. There are sites on the web, such as Flying Toys to meet the needs of those who are now getting involved in the flying of drones. The fascination with flying something which can move in many different directions very easily and quickly has drawn many to purchase one and quickly learn how to navigate a drone.

And there are a growing number of apps available and competing for use on smart phones to control the growing interest in drones. As an example, there is the Drone Ace app for controlling the Parrot AR Drone for the Apple iPhone. Or the AR Free Flight app for the Android smart phones. And there are far more than just these 2 available for use in controlling the hobby drones.

The interest that the general public has with drones right now looks like a love hate relationship. There is the hate for using drones to kill people and there is the love of new discovery. Drones provide an educational aspect for learning how they work and may possibly be used for non-military activities. We wrote about some of the other uses for Drones which are positive in nature, including monitoring climate change which is a topic many are concerned about.

It is obvious that drones are now mainstream here in the US and will continue to grow. You add to that the continuing decline in prices and they quickly move into being affordable by everyone to use and learn from. If you have not looked into drones yet, now would be a good time to do so.

Drones For Private Use Raising Concerns

The idea of drones has been a hot topic here in the past few months and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. And it is not just because of the military purposes of drones which people are concerned about, but rather that of privacy concerns. Drones are quiet while hovering up in the air providing information to who ever is operating it. The concerns of law enforcement using them is a problem for everyone. But the bigger concerns are those individuals not associated with the government causing growing conversation to taking place. There are no regulations or enforcement for the private use of drones.

And we are not talking about those who are using drones as part of illegal drug activities or during the commission of a crime. Those are already happening and will continue. The issue is the use of drones by news agencies and how that will impact privacy. New's Corp admitted flying a drone over flood areas back in 2011 to show the damage which was caused. The big issue is when people take pictures and then sell them to news outlets. The "Paparazzi" take pictures now of the rich and famous by trickery and cunning. Long range lenses on cameras collect pictures which news agencies are willing to pay lots of money for.

What is there to stop the same people from using a drone to do the same and get a whole lot closer to the subject than ever before. That is what we should all be fearful of. The cost of a very good small drone can be purchased from Amazon for $299.99. And then all you have to do is add a great miniature camera to it and you are set to go. Prices go up from there with more features being added. But, at that price, anyone can get one and use it. And it is very easy to use. As you can see from the picture below, you can control it from your smart phone with ease. A drone and a smart phone is all that is needed.

This is definitely an invasion of privacy and may not be limited to just those being followed by the paparazzi. With drones, a burglar can look at various homes without even getting close to them. And then would be able to look into windows from a distance. This is the kind of privacy invasion that we should all be concerned about. The use of technology is not always for the correct purposes and drones is another example of this.

Drones Used For More Than Just Military Purposes

[caption id="attachment_4504" align="aligncenter" width="578"] Credit: Inquisitr[/caption]
We have all heard the news about drones and all the negativity associated with them. And this has included concerns about them being used against citizens here in the US. While we should be concerned about exactly how drones may be used by the military or law enforcement to create a Big Brother watching us situation, those are not the only uses for drones which can benefit society. There are so many places where the use of a piloted plane can now be replaced by a drone. Here are a few examples of how that can be utilized.

Radiation measurement by drones

We all remember the nuclear power plant problems in Japan and the problems with trying to get accurate measurements in the air without causing harm to the pilots flying overhead. There is now the ability to affix the equipment to a drone and fly that over a nuclear plant without placing anyone in harms way. This is being done at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico where they have recently developed drones to fly over areas to detect whether there has been a nuclear detonation and the impact of that. The same concept applies when a nuclear power plant has significant mechanical failures. With drones, they can get much closer to the location and not risk someone's life.

Climate changes measured by drones

With all the discussion about climate change and associated concerns being raised, drones are now being used to fly over various locations to take measurements. These are immediately fed to computers on the ground while the drones fly for up to 31 hours. Piloted planes for this kind of research cannot stay up anywhere near that time. All the information gathered will provided necessary information to determine the impact to the atmosphere and provide answers as to what should be done.

Wildlife monitoring by drones

Scientists have had difficulty monitoring some wildlife as they may be too mobile. Flying an aircraft to monitor them makes too much noise and has an impact. By using drones, there is far less of an impact to wildlife which they are monitoring. The ability to monitor poaching of animals in the jungle has become a much easier process with the use of drones. Or monitoring Sea Lions in the arctic is another example of using drones to accomplish scientific needs. Or the study of Sperm Whales is another of the scientific study. And there are many other examples of this going on.

Conclusion

The use of drones for military or law enforcement usage is one that is in the news and controversial. The use for research which can have benefits to society is one that we can all agree is something which should be pursued. We can all hope to hear of many more examples such as these in the future.