Delaney Bredehoeft

Wilson
HELA 10
3/3/15

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The Downfall of Drones

The ability to fly planes through the skies has been an amazing feat of science for
many years. Now that same technology has been advanced; these machines can move
faster than ever and now without a pilot to fly them. Drones have recently become more
popular with many different groups for many different purposes. A drone is a flying
machine similar to a plane, though it is usually smaller and can be controlled through
programming or with a remote. They first made an appearance during World War I, when
premature drones flew through the skies guided by a preset autopilot system. Since their
debut, they have been greatly advanced and now their high tech features have turned
good intentions into a possible disaster. Many people are beginning to express their
concerns for the growing issue; for example, Chris Anderson states, I want to show an
inevitability of what I think will happen with these drones (Hruby). They have become
dangerous to everyday citizens whether they know it or not. Drones should be used for
only military purposes, not domestic or recreational purposes because they are
dangerously unregulated, they invade peoples privacy, and the military is the only
organization in which the use of drones is absolutely necessary. If no laws are eventually
passed to protect US citizens from these dangerous devices, privacy and security will
cease to exist.
Modern and advanced drones pose as a threat to the governments ability to track
and detect them. They present an advanced level of stealth which creates a situation in
which the government has no way of knowing who is flying a drone and what their
intentions are. No one will know if a drone is being used solely for recreation or if it has

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a mission of collecting data and information. This is one of the many reasons why drones
should not be used for recreation and especially not by private companies who frequently
have sinister agendas and goals in drone usage. Drones and their stealth are not only a
threat to the governments ability to control their usage; they are also a threat to the safety
of commercial airlines passengers. The inability to detect these extremely advanced
drones by the government is shared with that of commercial airlines. Jay Stanley in The
Washington Times says, We cannot allow our skies to fill with flying robots armed with
all manners of dangerous weapons. (Hruby). This is especially true when you are
considering the safety of commercial airline passengers. Anything that cannot be detected
while flying can be extremely dangerous to airplanes; if there are objects flying around in
the air, they need to be able to be seen and detected by any and all airplanes. This issue
creates the possibility of collisions between machines and those collisions would create
large numbers of fatalities due to something that could be prevented with strict laws on
drone usage. The lack of regulation of drones makes them a great threat to security and
safety of many people. This danger increases when discussing the invasion of personal
privacy possible if drones were to be used recreationally or either public or private
companies
Drones are a major threat to the privacy and security of US citizens because they
Carry a wealth of sensors in their bulbous noses: color and black-and-white TV cameras,
image intensifiers, radar, infra-red imaging for low-light conditions and lasers for
targeting. (BBC News), all of which can be used to invade the personal lives of
everyday citizens unknowingly. Drones, when controlled by private companies, can

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collect private information from average citizens as well as other corporations. Todays
advanced drones present An unprecedented capability to track and monitor activity on
the ground (BBC News) which means that they can also collect an extraordinary amount
of data. This causes extensive problems because when the drones are unregulated, the
government has no idea what the drones are doing, and therefore no control over what
information they collect. Operators are able to Delete the existing data, archive the data
and add new data. (Teledesign Systems), which allows them to constantly control what
their drones are carrying and what is done with it. They can collect private information
such as emails, texts, and they can gather information related to your bank accounts,
credit cards and other personal information that people wouldnt normally want to share
(BBC News). The ability to obtain any type of information from anyone by private
companies acts as a building block to a totally controlled society. When information is
no longer private, the corporations accumulating the information have great control and
power over many people. They may chose to do various things with the information and
data that they collect, some of which may be corrupt or immoral. Private information is
meant to be kept private, and when it is exposed, detrimental things can happen. Drones
also act as a building block leading to a totally controlled society because of their ability
to record footage for their owners. Not only can they see what youre doing online, and
saying in your emails, they can see what youre physically doing at any given time.
Though they dont invade homes and dont usually get low enough to the ground to see
inside, they can collect footage of neighborhoods and the people living in them as well as
changes occurring in cities in many different locations. The potential power of

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companies, both private and public, that obtains and utilize drones is overwhelming.
Drones are also dangerous to the security of people because even if the owner had no bad
intentions, it is easy for them to be hacked by outsiders, who would then have access to
the information collected and stored in the drone. In 2009, insurgents in Iraq hacked into
enemy drones through a software program available for only twenty-six dollars (USA
Today). This demonstrates why even companies with good intentions should not have
access to drones. If drones were to be used domestically everyones privacy would be in
danger and eventually privacy as we know it would cease to exist and drone-owners
would have dangerous amounts of power.
The only use of drones should be by the military and their missions. Drones were
originally created for military purposes in the early 1900s (Myose) and, in order to
preserve the safety of citizens, they should remain for only that purpose. The use of
drones has become popular in armed forces in countries all around the world. The British
Army has used the Hermes 450 UAV in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as smaller UAVs to
help check for roadside bombs ahead of patrols (BBC News), which demonstrates how
dependent international armed forces have become dependent on the ability of drones.
Drones can be a crucial aspect in military success. Their stealth and inability to be
detected, which presents as a danger for domestic use, is one of its most valuable assets
when assisting the military. Drones can be used to carry out high-risk missions in which
it would be extremely dangerous to send pilots and soldiers on; They are very useful in
instances where the application poses a threat to the human life. (Teledesign Systems).
They can video large areas of land so that the military can gain further knowledge about

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what an enemy is up to. Drones are needed by the military because they provide a way to
collect information on an enemy without running a high risk of being detected. If the
military couldnt spy on their enemies without being detected, then an attempt to spy on
an enemy would be useless; if no spying could be done, the military would have less
information on the enemy and wouldnt be as successful in its affairs. Drones play a
crucial role in military success, though this advanced technology should not be available
to any public or private companies.
Many arguments have been made asserting that drones should be allowed for
domestic use, not solely military use. Those arguments state that drones are only
dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands and that they can be helpful to many other
organizations outside the military. Drones can be used recreationally for fun without
posing as a threat to privacy or security. Many people in ownership of drones have good
aims and are not intent on gathering other peoples private information. This is true until
the drones fall into the wrong hands or are hacked by outside groups. There are also
many organizations that could successfully utilize drones to help people. The police
force could use them to quicken the process of search and rescue, which could assist in
saving many peoples lives (USA Today).
The reasons for limitation on the usage of drones are blatantly well supported and
should be considered by the government. Drones are hazardous when used domestically
because of their inability to be regulated and their ability to collect mass amounts of data
and information from mass amounts of people. They should only be used for military
purposes because they play a crucial role in the militarys ability to maintain stealth

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while gathering information on an enemy. The drone industry and production are
expected to expand greatly in the following years, and without regulation and rules
against their use, the US will face an epidemic of both social security and personal
privacy

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Works Cited
BBC News. Drones, What Are They and How do They Work. 31 January 2012. 22
Februay 2016 <<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-10713898>>.
Hruby, Patrick. Citizen Drone Warfare: Hobbyist Explores a Frightening Scenario. 17
December 2012. 2 March 2016.
Myose, Roy, and Robert Strohl. Drone. 10. Vol. 5. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science
& Technology. 2007.
Teledesign Systems. Drones. 2002. 22 February 2016
<<http://www.teledesignstsyems.com/drones.html>>.
USA Today. Domestic use of Drones? Bad Idea. 31 May 2012. 17 February 2016.