NEWSFLASH: There is a free website that's accessible to everyone in the world that has photos of your house, your backyard, your front yard, your neighborhood, your school, your pool, your car if it was parked in the driveway, and your office! It's called GOOGLE MAPS - look it up! Using Street View I can usually see your front door and your garage door. - I like to remind people of this when they start throwing that "Privacy Issue" crap at me regarding drones.
I've noticed most people vastly over-estimate the camera capabilities on the mavic. I guess they've been watching too many movies/TV shows.
I was flying in my neighborhood park yesterday and a passing speed-walker stopped as she passed and asked the standard question: "Does that have a camera on it?"
I said Yes, and realized she was smiling and asking out of curiosity instead of paranoia. She asked if she could look at my iPad - "Is that what you see from the camera?" So I showed her the iPad up close and her response was typical: "Oh Wow... is that what you see?? That's really cool, but it's not very good for spying" - she laughed.
This is not the first time I've found that most people are surprised by the limited amount of detail delivered by that tiny camera.
I wish there was a good way we could all get the word out there loud and clear: No one is spying on you through your windows with a mavic from 100's of feet away! (And I'd like to add, "You're probably not that interesting anyway.”)
Another neighbor told me last April: "My wife's afraid someone's looking through our windows from a drone she saw flying outside."
I said, "Was the drone hovering right outside her window?"
He said, "NO, it was flying over the park across the street over there."
I said, "Your wife should be more concerned about binoculars than drones."
Even if I'm flying DIRECTLY OVER YOU at 80 feet up, I can't really distinguish your face from anyone else with the mavic.
We're living in a bad time to be paranoid about privacy. If you're that concerned, ditch your cell phone, your computer, your GPS, your drone, your toll-tag, your credit card, your checking account, your doctor appointments, and your SS#. And don't walk down any street in any major city or your face will be captured by multiple cameras and put into a database with state-of-the-art face recognition software accessibility. (Watch the documentary on how they caught the Boston Marathon Bombers so quickly).
I’m sorry to crush your dreams of privacy, but between the Internet, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, there is someone out there that can find out where you are, where you live, where you work or go to school, what your grades are, where your kids are, how much you make, what you wear, everyone you’ve ever screwed, what you eat, where you shop, your current health status, who you voted for, your medical conditions, your military service, what you drive, where you travel, what you buy, what your sexual preferences are, what your hobbies are, who you call, who your friends and family are, who you talk to, your political beliefs, how you spend your money, what you look like, where to find you now, what Internet forums you’re on, and probably whether or not you’ve ever read this post. - IF anyone cares, which they probably don’t.
Unless you’ve managed to live your entire life “off-the-grid” somehow, your life is an open book, and I don’t think one flying camera is going to change that.
BTW - cover up that camera on the lid of your laptop with a piece of tape. I can see you right now.
And stop being so paranoid. That knock at the door is probably just the UPS guy.
I've noticed most people vastly over-estimate the camera capabilities on the mavic. I guess they've been watching too many movies/TV shows.
I was flying in my neighborhood park yesterday and a passing speed-walker stopped as she passed and asked the standard question: "Does that have a camera on it?"
I said Yes, and realized she was smiling and asking out of curiosity instead of paranoia. She asked if she could look at my iPad - "Is that what you see from the camera?" So I showed her the iPad up close and her response was typical: "Oh Wow... is that what you see?? That's really cool, but it's not very good for spying" - she laughed.
This is not the first time I've found that most people are surprised by the limited amount of detail delivered by that tiny camera.
I wish there was a good way we could all get the word out there loud and clear: No one is spying on you through your windows with a mavic from 100's of feet away! (And I'd like to add, "You're probably not that interesting anyway.”)
Another neighbor told me last April: "My wife's afraid someone's looking through our windows from a drone she saw flying outside."
I said, "Was the drone hovering right outside her window?"
He said, "NO, it was flying over the park across the street over there."
I said, "Your wife should be more concerned about binoculars than drones."
Even if I'm flying DIRECTLY OVER YOU at 80 feet up, I can't really distinguish your face from anyone else with the mavic.
We're living in a bad time to be paranoid about privacy. If you're that concerned, ditch your cell phone, your computer, your GPS, your drone, your toll-tag, your credit card, your checking account, your doctor appointments, and your SS#. And don't walk down any street in any major city or your face will be captured by multiple cameras and put into a database with state-of-the-art face recognition software accessibility. (Watch the documentary on how they caught the Boston Marathon Bombers so quickly).
I’m sorry to crush your dreams of privacy, but between the Internet, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, there is someone out there that can find out where you are, where you live, where you work or go to school, what your grades are, where your kids are, how much you make, what you wear, everyone you’ve ever screwed, what you eat, where you shop, your current health status, who you voted for, your medical conditions, your military service, what you drive, where you travel, what you buy, what your sexual preferences are, what your hobbies are, who you call, who your friends and family are, who you talk to, your political beliefs, how you spend your money, what you look like, where to find you now, what Internet forums you’re on, and probably whether or not you’ve ever read this post. - IF anyone cares, which they probably don’t.
Unless you’ve managed to live your entire life “off-the-grid” somehow, your life is an open book, and I don’t think one flying camera is going to change that.
BTW - cover up that camera on the lid of your laptop with a piece of tape. I can see you right now.
And stop being so paranoid. That knock at the door is probably just the UPS guy.
Last edited:
... In 4 years of flying drones, I've just never been approached by someone throwing a fit. Whenever I see someone heading my way, I smile and say, "Hi." ~ before they say anything. I don't know if this breaks the tension ~but no one has ever approached me pissed off. I guess I've just been lucky...
