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Celso Flores

Dr. Martin
English 1101-102
05/09/17

Drones: Friend or Foe?

Privacy is a right that all people are deserving of but many do not have or is in jeopardy

due to the age of technology the people live in. With so many types of new technology coming

out and continuing to improve privacy is becoming more in jeopardy. Drones are becoming a

device that more people are able to attain and the accessibility has some worrying of some

privacy issues. Drones can fly in many different areas that many people are not able to reach due

to limitations and while some are equipped with cameras it makes it that more concerning to

know who is watching who. Even though it would be difficult to enforce, having a piece of mind

is what the people want and deserve and with drones causing privacy concerns they should have

the right to prevent drones from flying over their property.

Drones can travel in so many places and because of its ability to fly over buildings yet

having the ability to stay close to the ground and maneuvering around other things. Theoretically

a drone can go wherever the person controlling it wants it to go. This brings up a very concerning

issue about who is controlling them and their motives to use them. As of right now, Drones can

film, record sound or listen in on Wi-Fi and other signals, and no fence is high enough to keep

them out. (Froomkin 2). With the ability for drones to be able to go anywhere around someones

property with ease it is a frightening thought to think that someone has the capability to spy on

them if they would want to. One of the safest places people think about is their homes where

there is a lot more privacy and with drones that could take that right away from the people. The

issues with drones is not the fear that someone will listen in on somebodys worst kept secret.

People care more about the ease to get this information because, Instead of viewing privacy as
the secrets hidden away in a dark closet, they considered the issue as a matter of accessibility.

(Solove 5). Drones are just making it that much more accessible to get information on people

that they have no right to have.

Drones ability to capture video and audio people have the ability to capture any moments

that they want and once they have them they can share it to the whole world. With the internet

having an endless amount of records anyone can put that information out there. So any type of

recording made by the drone of anything anyone has said or done can be put out for everyone to

see. While people will argue that this could lead to being able to get more honesty in news and

reporting in general (Calo 3). It borders that morality line since the way that the information is

being collected is sneaky. To add to that it could also lead to misleading information because the

operator can choose what they want to record and keep and what they do not. A different reason

for those recordings can be that people share personal information on the internet. With the

internet already knowing so much, Google seems to be everywhere and seems to know

everything and offends against the cherished notions of privacy. (Gleick 10). Since the internet

already has all this information on someone and drones having the ability to collect personal

information it is like anyone can keep a full record of anyone. But with the people, Our trouble

is not the over-all absence of smartness but the intractable power of pure stupidity, and no

machine, or mind, seems enough to cure that. (Gopnik 5). With so many people having the

ability to capture and share your information it becomes frightening who has the tools and what

their motives can be.

People should be able to deter others from flying drones over their property because it is

just too much to expect people to respect others privacy. We can not expect everyone with a

drone to be responsible with them and it is only right to be able to protect the right of privacy. It
is only right, ...a person should retain some control over personal information that becomes

publicly available. This generation wants a say in how private details of their lives are

disseminated. (Solove 4). Drones are giving people the ability to make some of that personal

information public to the people. To help stop that and regain some of that control back is to be

able to stop drones from flying over privately owned property. There is little difference between

running across someones property by trespassing and having a little mini copter vehicle fly

slightly above the ground over your property (Froomklin 2). Drones are too much of a risk and a

problem to let roam around however the operator wants them to do and the best option is to let

them fly in public areas but draw the line in privately owned ones.

Many people believe that stopping drones from being able to roam around free would be

stippling many of the uses that a drone can have. Even though that can be the case it should also

be known that if someone wants to have a drone fly over their property they can let the operator

know that it is allowed. Other people that think it is a bad idea can also let it be known that way

people have the right to their choice. One of the big innovations for drone travel is a new type of

delivery system for companies to help deliver products to the consumer much faster (Froomklin

2). Even though it would be very beneficial the drones should not have that right to fly over

private property they should fly over public streets and ask the consumer if it is ok to let the

drone deliver their package if it means faster delivery times. It all comes down to choice and the

people have the right to block drones from their property to help protect their privacy.

Works Cited

Froomklin, A. Michael, and Ryan Calo. "Should You Be Allowed to Prevent Drones

from Flying over Your Property?" Wall Street Journal, 22 05 2016, pp. 1-4,

www.wsj.com/articles/
should-you-be-allowed-to-prevent-drones-from-flying-over-your-property-1463968981

Solove, Daniel J. "The End of Privacy?" Scientific American, Sept. 2008, pp.

1-7.

Gleick, James. "How Google Dominates Us." The New York Review of Books, 18 Aug.

2011, pp. 1-11, www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/08/18/

how-google-dominates-us/.

Gopnik, Adam. "The Information: How the Internet Gets Inside Us." The New

Yorker, 14 Feb. 2011, pp. 1-12, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/

the-information.

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