Are Drones Now Posing More Threats to Safety?

turn2honey (50)in #science • 7 years ago

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) commonly referred to as Drones are becoming increasingly popular, not just for wars and military purposes as recorded in it's history back in late 2001 where CIA used some drones during the air war against Taliban; but for saving life, delivering pizza, sports photography, and even for taking selfies.

The interesting innovation which has been found helpful in diverse fields such as the medical field, as there are life saving drones which attends to medical emergencies, and the police forces where they are used to investigate crime and search for missing people. Big companies like Amazon and Domino's have also started implementing them in in their delivery services.

Yet, as their has been a rise in the advantages of drones, the number of problems and threats it comes with it is also on the rise.

Now used in smuggling contraband into prisons

Earlier reports in 2016 indicates that drones have been used more than 33 times in 2015 to smuggle contraband over the prison walls compared to only 2 times in 2014 when such was recorded, and none in 2013. In 2014, there was also an incident in South Carolina where a drone crashed while attempting to deliver weed to an inmate in the prison, and this prompted a legislation to promise up to two years of sentence to anyone caught trying to smuggle contraband into prison using drones.

A new report from USA Today shows that drones have been used more than a dozen times to smuggle contraband like Phones, Drugs, Porn to inmates in federal prison over the past 5 years which proves that act has become quite popular.

Although officials are researching possible measures to solve the problem, but it is clearly understood that it's impossible to fully get rid of it.

Causes Accidental Death

As reported in August 2016, a woman died in a car crash after being followed by by police investigating reports of a drone being flown near Wandsworth Prison in London. Though the incident is possibly the first drone related accidental death, however, there as been several reports of drones causing serious accidents that could lead to death if not properly addressed. An example is a drone interfering with an airplane mid-flight in France, and a drone running into a boat on the open ocean sometimes around 2013.

Recall that last November, an 18-month-old toddler, reportedly lost his eye after being hit by of an "out-of-control" drone handled by a family. Added to this, there has been tons of death caused from the military use of drones.

Used in Spying and Surveying

Richard Madeley, a TV reporter reported to the police that some neighbours are spying on him with drones. He was wearing just a pair of shorts which he mentioned that he would never dream of wearing out when he noticed and chased out a drone spying on him at his apartment.

It was also reported that Rio Tinto planned to use drones to spy on workers private life. One of it's workers said that the data gathering approach could lead to distraction and unwanted psychological stress, which will in turn make them lose focus on the job as it'll cause pressure.

My Thoughts..

Although the advantages of drones seems to outnumber the disadvantages, but however the disadvantages needs to be paid a careful attention to. I believe if no quality assurance and proper regulatory is put in place for discovering vulnerabilities in drone, and as well as monitor it is used for only legal purposes, it could become a big global security threats and might also become a handy tool for terrorists.

Sources: 1 2 3
Image credits: CNet AirSelfie