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| Phantom 2 Quadcopter |
Los Angeles, CA—There is a bit of a debate going on involving
one of technology’s newer gifts. The somewhat inexpensive, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) drones are here. Are they really a threat to your
privacy? I have the answer for you.
As most of my readers know, I’m a licensed private
investigator. I now have my own Air
Force consisting of two consumer type camera-armed drones!
Can these gee wiz gizmos help me learn more about the people I’m
investigating? The answer is, not
really.
First of all the devices are limited significantly by their
power sources. They are battery
operated. The longest they can stay in
the air currently is under 25 minutes.
They may be quiet but are visible especially at night
because of their running lights. The
lights must stay on or the pilot can’t see or control it.
For surveillance they are worthless because of the short
flight time. Traditional means of
watching people are still more effective.
If a person I’m investigating enters a vehicle I can only
follow the vehicle for less than a mile under the best of conditions. Tall buildings, power lines, lamp posts and
trees all threaten my drones.
Rain and wind are not friendly to my drones and I have no
desire to risk seeing them destroyed.
I’ve stayed awake nights trying to figure out ways of using
the UAS to further my investigations.
I’ve found a couple that really don’t threaten privacy.
Frequently I need high-resolution aerial images of accident
or crime scenes to use during interviews and for court exhibits. The drones are absolutely excellent for this
purpose.
Locating stolen property or livestock has suddenly become
easier. Before I’d have to hire aircraft
and pilots to look at property from the air to avoid allegations of
trespass. Now I can do the same thing
but without spending a fortune with my drones.
Some could argue drones can be used to look through windows
but so can any helicopter. That is
really not practical because of limitations on cameras in difficult lighting
conditions. My little drones are
incapable of gathering audio because of issues like wind and the sound of the
rotors.
The affordable drones can’t handle the much heavier and
sophisticated cameras and night vision equipment or spotlights like
helicopters. My cameras are the tiny and
featherweight GoPro Hero 3+ that provides stunning images.
The only mischief I could really get involved with are nude sunbathers in their back
yards that could be observed and photographed.
That’s been the case with helicopters since their invention. That’s been an issue for Hollywood’s starlets
for decades. I have to ask have some of
those pictures and resulting publicity furthered their careers?
In the future I’m sure that the technology and capability of the drones will evolve in
the future but we’re talking years and decades.
The fact is that Americans have privacy rights provided they
stay in places like inside their homes and businesses where they have a
reasonable expectation of privacy. My
drones can’t see you while you’re in your bathtub or bed.
I also plan to use these drones for newsgathering
purposes. Active accident, fire and
crime scenes where helicopters are unavailable are going to be my drone
targets. We all know how helpful aerial
views are for TV news video. The
problem is having this kind of event at a convenient distance.
I challenge any of my visitors to figure out a way to invade
privacy that would actually justify concerns.
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