Rise of the Drones

We're getting ourselves into a right little muddle...the idea of 'smartbombs' has evolved to drones. Originally for surveillance, we now have big ones, lethally armed and controlled from container offices a continent away, or little ones smaller than your palm. With the idea of remotely neutralising the enemy before they mount an attack, they're quick and don't require troops on the ground. But now legal questions are being raised - what is the perceived danger threshold at which a kill mission is justified. Who decides? Where are these decision makers? Based on what information? Its untested territory - and it's classified. Surveillance drones have now moved into various bases in Africa, gathering information. They are easily armed.

And in your neighbourhood, we have toy shop quadrocopters, controlled via a smartphone. They have wireless Go Pro Cameras feeding live footage to your iPad. We have face recognition on Facebook photos. And with the database of your life growing with each link and 'like' you click, an algorithm could remotely decide that you're the next target.

Who's watching the classified basement tinkerer building a home made drone?

Deon
Twitter  -  deon_bing
www.bingdigital.co.za