Drones may be seen by some as trespassers in their private residential property. In fact, a recent incident involving a drone, a missing dog, and a homeowner caught the attention of the news. Here, the local resident noticed the drone flying in his neighborhood and decided to take matters in his own hands. Using a firearm he owned, he took the drone out of the air causing massive damages. His reason for shooting down a drone? His privacy was affected.
The resident received fines and charges, while the owner of the drone had to deal with the damages and repairs on his own. The missing dog was found, and that was the end of that.
The Unpredictable Factor
However, this does pose a question on drones as a whole. Would this incident happen again in the future, as drones receive more prominent roles? Drone deliveries for example would involve countless drones flying around neighborhoods on a regular basis. Would the idea of a fully functional drone delivery system be simply an idea that will never exist?
Would the presence of unknown and unpredictable factors – the people – create more problems for the drones?
Residents, Drones and Privacy
This is not the first instance where residents felt their privacy diminishing when a drone is around. Drones have cameras, and they can fly around swiftly. For some, they see it as a flying eye in the sky. What’s worse is that this eye has an owner, one with an agenda. It is only natural to feel like you are being watched when a drone is nearby – whether or not it is the case.
This begs the question, would a delivery drone system even work when people are very cautious about drones over their heads? On the other side of the coin, would people order items via drones if there were a chance it will never even arrive? Would you order something expensive online, and risk having a drone deliver it to your front door? While drones offer speedy deliveries, traditional methods face less fear in the eyes of residents.
