In the private sector, if you have the money to spend, someone will be happy to develop a solution that meets your needs … be you a private investigator, bounty hunter, drug dealer, killer for hire, terrorist, spy or something more mundane such as a surveyor, photographer or hobbyist.

The point is, with drones of types, shapes and sizes, spanning the gap from military jets to electric toy helicopters, and everything in between, it is going to be impossible to tell drones belonging to the good guys from those belonging to the bad.

Not all drones will take off from airports where they can be monitored, and identifying them will not be as simple as looking at a visual aircraft recognition card or spotting the tail number of an aircraft. We have a questionable record identifying planes as it is. How are we going to identify tiny drones the size of large insects?

Like most rapidly advancing technologies are creating all sorts of legal gray areas such as how UAV videography affects privacy, governmental accountability requirements, public access to government records … the list goes on. Rest assured that a drone arms race of sorts will ensue and the story of drug smuggling or terrorist activities using drones of some sort will be raised.

Then it will be spun. The government will need more and more drones to “ensure the safety of Americans.” Legislation will be passed and funding allocated “for the sake of our children.”

FK – Remember, we outnumber them.