Drones and public security
Introduction
With enhanced functionalities and capabilities, drones are more commonly used, and the influence of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) on people's life is increasing. Although governments state that the aim of using drones is to protect people and assets from natural disasters, terrorism and technological accidents, people become to seriously consider their individual privacy because drones are pervasive, and every organization can use it without any monitoring. This article examines the privacy challenges of drones and two potential but effective solutions in the aspect of radio interference technology and data collection. An according evaluation will also be considered.
Problem
There are two pressing causes why drones are used to violate privacy. On the one hand, it has large amount of military news about drones in recent years. With the use of UAVs by Trump and the Obama Administration in the war, drones have become the focus of attention [1]. Hence, people's demand for the security of privacy has gradually increased. On the other hand, as is mentioned in the website how-to-geek, there is endless information about the commercial use of UAVs. For example, businessmen can use these to distribute customers' reserved chocolate in Hong Kong [2], which exists a hidden danger of stealing users' privacies. Even though scanty evidence points to that businessmen or governments are using drones to interfere with the balance of the individual privacy, it is certain that people would imagine what will be if illegal organizations are allowed to buy dilapidated military surveillance drones. It is not alarmist, actually, and the effect is more adverse than the public thoughts.
Two terrible consequences ensued because of the increasingly popular emergence of UAVs, which results in the easier searching and espionage. Firstly, compared with the traditional private surveys, using UAVs to monitor public activities is not depended on private detectives. None but drone plays a vital role in these projects. People do control the UAV to track, and then they will completely grasp the behavior of the target. Moreover, large-battery-pack drones or fuel-powered engines can stay aloft for a long time, and they are effectively invisible and silent [2]. That is why the target person is not aware of the existence of the UAV that keeps tracking. Secondly, the creation of laws to UAVs is evolving and change rapidly. For instance, in Nevada and Michigan, two according laws and regulations about how to define the right to privacy are completely different [3]. It is understandable that different states have different laws, but it is absurd and terrible that there are some fundamental differences on the protection of citizens' privacy. Hence, a perfect solution in the aspect of drones needs fully considering by UAV manufacturers, lobbyists and legislators, and there are enough opportunities and time for them.
Solutions
Nevertheless, there are signs that two kinds of technology can mitigate or even eliminate the overwhelming invasion of private privacy of the public by unmanned aerial vehicles to a certain extent. One of the anti-drone methods is to destroy the UAV's signal recognition function by interfering with the radio frequency or GPS signal [3]. The principle that UAV can be remotely controlled by the operator is that there is a radio control unit inside the UAV and equipped with GPS radio, which will start automatically when necessary. Thus, the public can take full advantage of this to take anti-UAV measures by purchasing on-line or manufacturing a radio frequency jammer. Another further solution is using Geo Fencing, which is equivalent to manually entering a GPS coordinate to prevent drones from flying into this range [3]. It means that the concerned people merely need to register the geographic information of their personal residence on a website database and pass some simple verification, and the website manager will synchronize the database with the UAV manufacturer to prevent drones from overflying property. In fact, many drones manufacturers have used this method to prevent UAV controllers from using illegal intrusion into private homes to gain privacy from others, such as DIJ. Generally, both of these methods can solve the privacy problems that people care about to a certain extent.
Evaluation
Although the two schemes mentioned above are feasible in terms of results, they still have some limits and shortcomings. The former solution is probably be proscribed, because it could interfere with legitimate services, such as police radio, and the penalties faced are imprisonment and huge fines at least in the United States [3]. As for the latter solution, although it does solve some of the UAVs that are remotely adjusted by service providers in the background, there is a probability that it is not a viable long term solution, because researchers are developing autonomous robot drones, which means that they do not use GPS to operate [3]. It is unfortunate that the privacy issues have not been substantially resolved.
Conclusion
In summary, despite the issue of public privacy brought about by drones is indeed imminent, experts from related industries also put forward two constructive suggestions on the level of radio interference technology and data collection. Owing to the current laws and policies are not comprehensive, there are still several loopholes and shortcomings in these plans. With the introduction and gradual improvement of relevant laws and policies, even if a preliminary consensus and constraints will be reached with UAV manufacturers, there is a long way to regulate the using of drones, and it is still too early to boldly speculate and predict that the future of the relationship between UAV and public privacy would be smooth and bright.