Posted on 04/13/2013 7:17:48 AM PDT by Seizethecarp
The influential head of Google, Eric Schmidt, has called for civilian drone technology to be regulated, warning about privacy and security concerns.
Cheap miniature versions of the unmanned aircraft used by militaries could fall into the wrong hands, he told the UK's Guardian newspaper.
Quarrelling neighbours, he suggested, might end up buzzing each other with private surveillance drones.
He also warned of the risk of terrorists using the new technology.
Mr Schmidt is believed to have close relations with US President Barack Obama, whom he advises on matters of science and technology.
"You're having a dispute with your neighbour," he told The Guardian in an interview printed on Saturday.
"How would you feel if your neighbour went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their backyard. It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?"
Warning of mini-drones' potential as a terrorist weapon, he said: "I'm not going to pass judgment on whether armies should exist, but I would prefer to not spread and democratise the ability to fight war to every single human being."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Has Bill Gates been buzzing Schmidt’s backyard? Or maybe someone who felt violated by the Google Streetview collection of personal data?
I believe it’s too late. A twelve year old kid can buy himself a small blimp...mount a camera onto it...release it by tether to hang three thousand feet above his neighborhood, and broadcast the video to everyone via the internet.
Only Google should be allowed to invade people’s privacy.
Future patriots will need drones to protect themselves the same way that our founding fathers needed horses, spyglasses, compasses and powder horns to protect themselves.
That's the real reason some people want to restrict their use.
“How would you feel if your neighbour went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their backyard. It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?”
Good luck with flying it over someone’s house all day. Battery life on these things is measured in minutes.
Classic liberal democrat.
How would the neighbor feel if you shot it down?
How did the anti hunting wackos feel when their disruptor was shot down?
Isn't that special?
This from the clown who sold out to the Chinese for some Judas gold..
I can’t wait to bag my first one. Seems like an unfair fight, though. Shooting down an armed one would be much more sporting.....
I find it infinitely creepy that I can look at my house [which is back a mountain dirt lane] on Google Earth.
These people actually drove their little spy van onto my property?
Ixquick brower is much better and anonymous.
F Google.
Perhaps falconry could make a comeback.
Privacy is becoming an archaic term.
Big Brotha is watching.
The irony is thick and heavy, with these "concerns" coming from the likes of Eric Schmidt.
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