Example Of Essay On Drones

One of the fastest growing industries in the country is the drone industry. A drone refers to an unmanned aerial vehicle that can perform tasks as simple as recording video to as complex as locating terrorists in some of the most uninhabitable regions of the world. Despite the many advantages that drones offer, safety, regulatory and privacy concerns should make drone manufacturers, regulators and users think twice about their usefulness.
Government use of drones for surveillance has remained one of the main arguments for their use (Horgan). These concerns focus on the police use of drones built for war, which allow continuous surveillance, can “peer through clouds,” and detect people inside buildings (Horgan). I agree with Horgan’s argument because while the Fourth Amendment’s privacy restrictions apply only to the government, the courts have not consistent with how they apply it. One profession where drones have attracted much attention is journalism. A journalist with a drone can accomplish what in the past was time-consuming and expensive. For instance, a “drone journalist” could report on the extent of a natural disaster by streaming aerial video without needed to himself or news equipment in harm’s way (Jarvis). Reporting from the air, however, may be illegal and unethical. State legislation and tort laws apply to private organizations such as a newspaper (Jarvis). I agree with Jarvis because a drone journalist that thinks they have a First Amendment right to film a backyard wedding may find he’s broken the law. Moreover, filming that backyard wedding may also violate developing drone journalist ethics that forbid their use when privacy and safety concerns are present (Jarvis).
As mentioned safety is another concern surrounding the widespread deployment of drones. As with all technology, there are times when they fail. While the failure of a two pound drone over an empty parking lot leaves little to fear; a failure that happens over a densely populated urban area must be avoided (Wood). As civilian use of drones increases, the chances of drone mishaps has skyrocketed (Whitlock). I agree with both Woods and Whitlock because it seems one of the greatest concerns about civilian drones is how they might affect the commercial air industry. Due to the fact that drones are not “tagged” like aircraft, it is nearly impossible to keep track of them. This creates problem for air traffic controllers and pilots who are not aware of whether or not a drone is in a jets fly path (Wood). Not only do drones present challenges to more traditional aircraft such as commercial passenger jets but also may be susceptible to being hacked (Whitlock). In 2012, students from the University of Texas demonstrated to federal officials how easy it was for theme to hack into a airborne drone (Whitlock).
Just last month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published its long awaited draft rules for regulation of commercial drones. While the draft rules are a necessary step to the eventual development of a domestic drone industry, there are quite a few considerations that the FAA must address before final rules can be established. One area of controversy is who will have the right to the airspace above a property (Dolan and Thompson). On the one hand, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a landowner owns the airspace “in the immediate reaches of the surface necessary to use and enjoy the land” (Dolan and Thompson). I agree with Doan and Thompson’s article because while the Court’s ruling may allow planes to fly above a house, it seems to suggest that a low flying drone passing back and forth over someone’s property is illegal.
In conclusion, while it is clear that drones are here to stay and that they do provide an abundance of convenience, their integration into life must be taken with caution. Only when the concerns, as mentioned above, are fully satisfied should the wide-scale manufacture and use of drones be allowed.

Works Cited

Dolan, Alissa, and Richard M. Thompson. “Integration of Drones into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues. CRS. Congressional Research Service, 4 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Horgan, John. “The Drones Come Home.” National Geographic. National Geographic, Mar. 2013. Web. 23. Mar. 2015.
Jarvis, John. “U.S. drone use hovers on boundaries of First, Fourth Amendments.” Gateway to Journalism Review (2014): 12-15. Web.
Whitlock, Craig. “Close encounters: As small civilian drones get more popular, the near misses stack up. The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 25 Jun. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Wood, Colin. “Sharing the Skies.” Government Technology. eRepublic, Arp. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.