Google Calls For Drone Regulation

I've just about had it with Google. This corporation which, like Facebook, data mines everything about a person and steals passwords and information from unsecured wireless networks (and gets away with it relatively Scott free) is now making demands that the general public be prevented from owning drones (RC Planes with cameras on, essentially.) Yes, that's right. A corporation which takes aerial photos of your garden without your permission and makes them accessible on the internet, not to mention Google street view, doesn't want you to be able to fly a small aircraft around over your neighbors in case it breaches someones privacy. He also warns the technology could be used by 'terrorists' (read resistance cells against the coming fully autonomous military.) You couldn't make this shit up!






Here is the main story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22134898

So here is a small bit of light reading to find out just how privacy sensitive Google really is:

Concern about Google's data mining:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/google-data-mining-national-security

Google fined £7m for collecting information from wireless networks:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2292624/Google-hit-7M-fine-wifi-snooping-Street-View-cars-intercepted-emails.html

For fucks sake, Google doesn't even allow you to use a fake name for your Google+ account for bizarre reasoning which you know is bullshit.
(http://gizmodo.com/5830463/if-you-use-a-fake-name-on-google%252B-your-account-is-about-to-be-suspended)

Planes such as this are typical of the home made
FPV RC planes in existence.

So in this latest Google corporate fuck over, Google chief Eric Schmidt is calling for Governments to regulate ownership of devices which could be used as drones. If you are unaware, in the last few years civilian ownership of remote control planes and helicopters that are flown through cameras in real time (so essentially you feel as though you are really flying) are becoming very popular. They are used for multiple different purposes from aerial photographers to sheep farmers looking for lost sheep, and they are relatively cheap and easy to make with materials found online.

I wrote an article on this last year:
(http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3264003180989549681#editor/target=post;postID=2870208040734108609)

In the above article I highlighted some of the practical uses they could be put to, and it seems I'm not the only one to have considered this. They could be used to fly over protests to film the police to ensure civil liberties are not breached and fly reconnaissance in a SHTF situation for defence or hunting. Put bluntly, they don't want any 'terrorist' (read freedom fighter) from having any upper hand on the forces set against us.

 This has nothing to do with privacy, and everything to prevent the tool being used in a uprising.

Drone Warfare: Watching You Watching Me

I've been meaning to highlight the possible applications of next generation R/C planes for a while as we see an increasing drive with police and military (particularly in the US) towards the use of drone technology. It seems that CCTV and constant GPRS tracking via your phone among other tracking capabilities aren't enough these days so small drone vehicles are under development to track and follow us with particular use in large events and protests.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6676809.stm#graphic

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/01/british-police-more-drones



All seems lost until you discover that low-budget 'FPV' (first person view) aircraft are relatively easy to make at home and could help with many civil rights issues in the future.
Using over the counter bits and pieces you can create a 'First Person' R/C aircraft that not only is incredibly cool and fun to fly about, but could help defend political activists in the future and perhaps more importantly help provide evidence against heavy-handed




Baring in mind that in the past, Police who use undue force during protests etc often get away with it (the case with Ian Tomlinson in the G20 protests in London is one example of where evidence provided with witnesses camera footage at least helped gain a court case - but unfortunately failed to be enough to secure a conviction) especially in highly populated areas like protests where its difficult to get a decent view, helicopter FPV recording all which the police do could provide exceptional evidence against police brutality and also those dodgy cases where you see agent provocateurs mysteriously disappear through police lines. Having personally been at large, high profile protests it is incredibly frustrating when you see such misuse of power (aka, girls of fifteen, sixteen being hit with batons) and you haven't the time or ability to record events on the ground as it happens. This could really help in those situations.

Learn more about this awesomeness:

General Info:

http://www.fpvuk.org/

http://www.fpvpilot.com/Pages/default.aspx

http://rcexplorer.se/Educational/FPV/FPV.html

Pre-Made Kits:
These kits are of course not the best, and you would do better with a much greater radio equipment and airframe but would be good for practice:

http://www.hubsan.com/products/FPV/H301F.htm

http://www.readymaderc.com/store/

I imagine that not only would these planes be good in protest or foreseeable domestic conflicts but might also be useful in a SHTF scenario. If you live in the countryside it might be an ideal way of patrolling the perimeter of your land and immediate area without the danger of coming into contact with any dangerous groups or people. Or to simply check on livestock or check where that herd of deer is grazing so you know where to walk to with the gun later on.

I've been meaning to get one of these for a long while, but money is tight! I definitely will get one of these eventually though, even if its just for the lol's!

Or for perv'n! lol.