Celebs Beware! New Pandora's Box of 'Personal' Drones That Could Stalk Anyone From Brangelina To Your Own Child
They could put your mind at ease – or do very much the opposite. A new arms race is on and it could change everything from the way we parent to how we get our celebrity gossip. For the technology currently being used by the CIA to ferret out terrorist leaders in the hills of Pakistan is set to arrive in a neighbourhood near you – and there's nowhere to hide. Personal drones – smaller, private versions of the infamous Predator – are the next hot technology for people looking to track celebrities, cheating lovers, or even wildlife. And it could be a dream tool for the paparazzi, named after the Iralian for buzzing mosquitoes. Now the metaphor is coming to life. Several personal drones are scheduled for completion next year. Already in the UK police are using drones to track thieves. In February, the Air Robot was deployed by Merseyside police after officers lost an alleged car thief who had escaped on foot in thick fog. Using the device's on-board camera and thermal-imaging technology, the operator was able to pick up the suspect through his body heat and direct foot patrols to his location. It led officers to a 16-year-old youth, who was hiding in bushes alongside the Leeds-Liverpool canal, in Litherland, Merseyside. The drone, which measures 3ft between the tips of its four carbon fibre rotor blades, uses unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology originally designed for military reconnaissance. The battery-powered device can have a range of cameras attached to its main body, including CCTV surveillance or thermal imaging cameras. It is designed to hover almost silently above crime scenes and send live footage to officers on the ground, but the unit can also 'perch and stare' from a solid platform, allowing the operator to capture hours of footage from a hidden vantage point. Merseyside Police is one of a handful of forces trying out the devices which, at £40,000 each, are far cheaper to use for small-scale operations than a conventional helicopter. November 10, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Daily Mail
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