You miss the main point of this discussion and others like it regarding the ever increasing intrusion into our daily lives and privacy.
When the first “street cams” appeared a few decades ago, I warned people that it was just the beginning. Google the numberof “security” cams in operation in Britain - it is MIND BOOGLING!
As technology becomes cheaper to deploy and less costly in terms of “exposure of LE personnel to danger”, we will see more and more of it intruding in our lives.
Can’t you comprehend that they can deploy MANY MANY more unmanned drones for the cost of just ONE manned (pilot + “observer”) in a regular aircraft.
This evolution will continue until they have indoor monitoring capability in every single building (they already have deployed drive by monitoring of indoor activities by a number of methods, all of which are pretty crude and obvious. The rapid pace of tech improvements (artificial insect motion, nano-technology, rfid, UMAs, ad hoc self organizing networks, real time facial and stress recognition, etc, etc) only insures that the tightness of the noose around our collective necks is ever increasing.
Wake up and smell the coffee my friend.
I’ve been in hi tech all my working career and I’ve seen only the surface stuff. It scares the ^&*%$^& out of me to think what NSA, HSD, CIA and their private contractors are cooking up behind closed doors.
They always foist this stuff on us in terms of “protecting the people” when in reality they are rolling this stuff out to protect themselves from We the People finally saying at some point:
“We’re mad as hell and we’re NOT going to take it ANYMORE.”
That’s the point at which even pollyannas like you will recognize all this stuff for the ABSOLUTE EVIL that it truly is.
I dread tat day arriving, but am convinced it is unavoidable, consider the cancerous state of the governing body’s character at this time.
The technology is going to change no matter what. The most intrusive thing on individual privacy that I see are companies like google and others who track internet usage for commercial purposes.
RF micro devices are going to change things drastically for both good and bad - i.e. you can push your shopping cart at Walmart through pylons and check out quickly using your own RF tag as a debit/credit card to your account. The retailer will track your purchases and target advertising and specials specifically to you.
On-star technology and license plate readers can track your car and speed along the interstate. License plate readers can ping users when a specific plate passes by and also keep a record of all plates that pass a certain point. Same with RF tag stickers for toll roads.
Your smartphone can already provide your location if enough towers are present through tower triangulation and/or gps technology.
Smart meters on houses can monitor electric/gas/water usage and report that back to utility companies or local government.
Pole cameras are already utilized by law enforcement to watch specific addresses/activity as part of criminal investigations. A fixed camera pointing at your address seems more effective than a drone circling your house. Like I said above, there is nothing a drone can do right now that I can’t do in an aircraft.
Most FReepers support the use of drones to increase border security and make the border patrol more effective. They already have thousands of cameras, motions sensors, and other technology employed on the border to include tens of millions of dollars in aircraft.
The potential exists for abuses with every technology. I think google, some ISP’s, retailers, and other web services are probably the most intrusive although many people don’t realize that.
As computers get faster and more capable our world will continue to change for the better and worse. If you use a debit card/credit card those records are obtainable now if law enforcement has probable cause.
Technology like this is still expensive, but it gets cheaper every year and it will be addressed by the courts as it arises. Where some of this stuff is present as described above the information is obtainable with a court order, subpeona, or search warrant.
The world has already changed, but I know it still takes an investigator or investigative team to monitor these things the same as it always has. That will change at some point when computers increase their ability to decipher and look for things. I am concerned about the potential for abuse, but I also believe the courts won’t allow unfettered access to much of it currently (another reason ABO is so important for SCOTUS).
As I said above, if the government wanted to watch you in your yard the technology already exists with satellites and drones won’t really change that. It still takes a person on the other end somewhere to decipher the information overload.
I am not missing the point of the conversation at all and your name calling is pointless. I stand by my comments that the “Judge” is up to his usual hyperactive hysteria and I am certain he is working on a book right now that will sell a few hundred thousand copies and make him some money. You can buy it if you want. It won’t change the inevitable march for good and bad of technology.
All of this stuff is open source on the internet. In my experience, it still takes an investigator or investigative team to monitor and process all of the above so these technologies are highly selective where applied and are all subject to court review during adjudication from a law enforcement perspective.
YMMV.