The Evolution of Drones
By Madison Hartman
Drone — a remotely operated aircraft or missile. To many, the word summons images of futuristic violence or a military weapon used in far away places, but for a select few, drones are the latest in expensive photography gadgets.
As emerging technologies, like drones, grow ever more advanced and accessible, it’s nearly impossible, even for tech enthusiasts, to keep track of the new adaptations, uses and products available. It’s even harder for the Federal Aviation Administration, who writes the laws of drone use, to keep up.
As of September, nine states have passed laws restricting the use of drones. The levels of restriction vary from any private citizen to only for public enforcement purposes, according to Mother Jones. Texas is the only state preventing all citizens from using any type of drones.
Murky moral issues aside, tech enthusiasts regard them simply as a new toy, a high-flying camera.
“I travel a lot internationally for leisure so it’s a great way to take pictures from a high vantage point and obviously it’s hands free,” said Jeremiah Myers, a financial advisor in Atlanta.
Myers has the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopter, which, along with being a mouthful, is the most advanced in the industry according to him. While he hasn’t run into any trouble using the camera internationally in countries such as South Africa, a friend who has traveled with him and the camera was afraid they might.
“I was nervous when Jeremiah used the camera. I’ve just always heard they were illegal to use and his made a lot of noise,” Amanda Wilson, a media consultant in New York said. “People kept coming over to look at it, but no authorities ever came.”
Others weren’t so lucky, like Shavar Griffin, a firefighter who uses a similar drone for travel photography.
“In Morocco, my equipment almost got confiscated by authorities,” he said. “They basically didn’t let me in the country with it.”
Instead of fighting them, Griffin left. But he was certain if he had stayed they would have taken it.
Despite Griffin’s trouble with customs, neither he nor Myers had given much thought to the issue of privacy or security, nor did they know the laws on drones in countries where they had travelled.
“I am not really concerned with privacy issues,” Griffin said. “I don’t fly in ‘hot’ spot locations like crowded parks, bridges or iconic land marks.”
While Myers and Griffin may not be using their drones to invade the privacy of citizens there is currently nothing preventing anyone with ill intentions from purchasing the $700 device and flying it from up to 300 meters away.
For the government and the FAA, drone technology may present an abundance of legal dilemmas, but for tech enthusiasts like Myers and Griffin, products like the DJI are just one more way to take a pretty picture.
