While we might be in two minds over the use of drones, more specifically remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), it seems birds of prey are clear on the issue; they seriously dislike them.
An eagle in Australia has launched the latest attack on the invasive species, successfully taking out a reconnaissance drone from Melbourne Aerial Video.
At first, the wedge-tailed eagle is just a speck in the distance, but by the time you notice it, it’s already too late. The eagle attacks the drone with claws outstretched, while the camera remains functional and the drone plummets out of the sky crash landing on the forest floor.
Eagle 1 – Drone 0
While RPA’s have proven useful to farmers in surveying their land and herds and have even been used in search and rescue operations they have been building a fast reputation as being blatantly invasive of people’s privacy.
Complaints have been heard of RPA’s spying on private backyards, invading the privacy of beach goers and have been implicated in leaking sensitive material in the case of accidents and crime scenes.
To this end the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in July 2014 issued a report urging the Australian government to update Australia’s privacy law to keep up to date with the proliferation of RPA.
Among the committee’s recommendations is to introduce new legislation to protect citizens against privacy-invasive technologies, including RPA. Specifically, the committee proposes the creation of a tort of serious invasion of privacy to address some of the gaps and limitations in Australia’s existing privacy law. Whatever the solution, it is clear that legislative reform is required in the not too distant future to confront the privacy concerns associated with RPA.
Meanwhile birds of pray will be knocking the suckers out of the skies it seems.