Neil Armstrong once said that ‘science has not yet mastered prophecy, we predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next ten’.
This quote is so true in the Indian context as none can imagine exactly ten years ago that drones can be used for civilian purposes but now they are all set to cover our ‘skies’. Currently, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has prohibited the use of drones for civilian purposes and formulating the policies for their implementation. Drones can be defined as those aircraft, either autonomous or remotely controlled, with no pilot aboard. They are also called as unmanned aircraft. They need certain components like data-link, control station, unmanned personnel etc, for their operation and hence, termed as unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aerial systems too.
The reason why civilian drones are ‘selling like hotcakes’ is due to their capability for enormous multifarious civilian applications like agricultural purposes, search & rescue, surveillance, traffic monitoring, motion pictures & journalism etc. Drones has the capacity to replace manned aircraft in many ways like they emit less CO2 & create less noise, can monitor dangerous sites without risking the life of human pilot, like it did in ‘Fukushima nuclear Catastrophe’ site in 2011, can deliver necessary aids in the remotest areas with less energy and time, comparatively to the manned aircraft. In agriculture, drones can be used to detect ‘crop diseases’ and to detect where crops need water and where it doesn’t, this could be a boon in arid/semi-arid regions.
Civilian drones are likely to have a huge economic impact as it has been predicted by Association of Unmanned Vehicle System International (AUVSI) that “70000 jobs will be created in the first three years of implementation of unmanned aircraft for civilian purposes in the United States only with an economic impact of $13.6 billion. This benefit will grow through 2025 when more than 100,000 jobs will be created with an economic impact of $82 billion. The global market for civilian unmanned aircraft stood at US$11.3bn in 2013 and has the potential to grow to over US$140bn in the next ten years.” It further stated that 80 percent of the commercial market for drones eventually will be for agricultural uses.
Hence, it is very much palpable that drones do not bring death only, but it brings life as well.
Being an intrusive technology, drones are likely to have some privacy implications. It gathers data either authorized by the state entity or private organization, in either case, privacy is going to intrude. It can record the activities of the people on the ground, for instance, Surveillance of riot affected area of ‘Trilokpuri’ in Delhi and ‘Kumbh Mela’ in UP. by drones etc, can raise a basic question that how can a state regulate the ‘freedom’ of the citizens by aerial surveillance? And if it can, then to what extent? And how can we prevent somebody from ‘prying’ in the public place by a drone?
Here what we should be solicitous about that how can the ‘privacy rights’ be protected as drones are coming with huge benefits and with greater risks too. And we better be ready to overcome these risks.
The law of privacy in India is quite enigmatic, though the Indian Judiciary tries to clarify the position ofttimes, like in, Gobind V. State of M.P., the Supreme Court widely interpret Article 21 of the Indian constitution and recognized ‘Right to Privacy’ as a fundamental right. Though this right is not absolute and the state can invade the privacy if an emergency or public safety requires. Here the observation by the Bombay High court recently in ‘Beef Ban Case’ seems promising that ‘right to privacy is a part of personal liberty under article 21 and a citizen has a right to lead a meaningful life within his house & outside his house as well. Hence, The State cannot intrude the life of a citizen within the premises of his/ her home. This intrusion on the personal life of an individual is prohibited by the right to privacy which is a part of personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21.
09/07/16 Owais Farooqui/Counter Currents
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This quote is so true in the Indian context as none can imagine exactly ten years ago that drones can be used for civilian purposes but now they are all set to cover our ‘skies’. Currently, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has prohibited the use of drones for civilian purposes and formulating the policies for their implementation. Drones can be defined as those aircraft, either autonomous or remotely controlled, with no pilot aboard. They are also called as unmanned aircraft. They need certain components like data-link, control station, unmanned personnel etc, for their operation and hence, termed as unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aerial systems too.
The reason why civilian drones are ‘selling like hotcakes’ is due to their capability for enormous multifarious civilian applications like agricultural purposes, search & rescue, surveillance, traffic monitoring, motion pictures & journalism etc. Drones has the capacity to replace manned aircraft in many ways like they emit less CO2 & create less noise, can monitor dangerous sites without risking the life of human pilot, like it did in ‘Fukushima nuclear Catastrophe’ site in 2011, can deliver necessary aids in the remotest areas with less energy and time, comparatively to the manned aircraft. In agriculture, drones can be used to detect ‘crop diseases’ and to detect where crops need water and where it doesn’t, this could be a boon in arid/semi-arid regions.
Civilian drones are likely to have a huge economic impact as it has been predicted by Association of Unmanned Vehicle System International (AUVSI) that “70000 jobs will be created in the first three years of implementation of unmanned aircraft for civilian purposes in the United States only with an economic impact of $13.6 billion. This benefit will grow through 2025 when more than 100,000 jobs will be created with an economic impact of $82 billion. The global market for civilian unmanned aircraft stood at US$11.3bn in 2013 and has the potential to grow to over US$140bn in the next ten years.” It further stated that 80 percent of the commercial market for drones eventually will be for agricultural uses.
Hence, it is very much palpable that drones do not bring death only, but it brings life as well.
Being an intrusive technology, drones are likely to have some privacy implications. It gathers data either authorized by the state entity or private organization, in either case, privacy is going to intrude. It can record the activities of the people on the ground, for instance, Surveillance of riot affected area of ‘Trilokpuri’ in Delhi and ‘Kumbh Mela’ in UP. by drones etc, can raise a basic question that how can a state regulate the ‘freedom’ of the citizens by aerial surveillance? And if it can, then to what extent? And how can we prevent somebody from ‘prying’ in the public place by a drone?
Here what we should be solicitous about that how can the ‘privacy rights’ be protected as drones are coming with huge benefits and with greater risks too. And we better be ready to overcome these risks.
The law of privacy in India is quite enigmatic, though the Indian Judiciary tries to clarify the position ofttimes, like in, Gobind V. State of M.P., the Supreme Court widely interpret Article 21 of the Indian constitution and recognized ‘Right to Privacy’ as a fundamental right. Though this right is not absolute and the state can invade the privacy if an emergency or public safety requires. Here the observation by the Bombay High court recently in ‘Beef Ban Case’ seems promising that ‘right to privacy is a part of personal liberty under article 21 and a citizen has a right to lead a meaningful life within his house & outside his house as well. Hence, The State cannot intrude the life of a citizen within the premises of his/ her home. This intrusion on the personal life of an individual is prohibited by the right to privacy which is a part of personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21.
09/07/16 Owais Farooqui/Counter Currents
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