Drone technology is truly an amazing thing as we look ahead to a world filled with small flying robots doing everything from delivering our packages to leading dangerous search-and-rescue operations to providing unimagined aspects of recreational photography, but the oldest commercial drone manufacturer in North America wants to take it a step further by allowing drones to monitor how well we’re adhering to COVID-19 restrictions.
Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell has been pushing for his drone company to lead the charge on monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus since February, but he’s recently added some interesting tidbits that seem to go beyond simple temperature readings.
Advancements have been made during the pandemic. We have “pandemic drones” used to detect symptoms of #COVID19. @DraganflyInc, the oldest commercial drone manufacturer in North America is behind this new #drone tech. https://t.co/RL9yLiAg52 @EMILYWBOY from @WBOY12News
— Cameron Chell (@CameronChell) August 13, 2020
“The technology can also measure social distancing, and it can also measure mask wearing,” Chell said. “So, from a public policy standpoint, you can say, ‘hey how effective is our communication in terms of wearing masks, and are we practicing social distancing.’”
What’s interesting about this is that Chell remarked in a pre-COVID interview with FOX Business that the data collection from drones can be worrisome. Oh, but not his drones. He’s only talking about Chinese drones.
“The issue is actually Chinese policy, it’s not the companies themselves,” Chell told FOX’s Charles Payne. “What the American government and the Northern American, and, quite frankly, NATO governments are worried about are the policies that the Chinese sovereign government has in place in order to be able to capture the data that are on these drones.”
He goes on to add something that should probably scare us all: “A drone will collect more data than any other type of device over there, and it will collect a different type of data.”
So what are your thoughts on drone companies monitoring our behavior? Is this for the greater good and a solution to stopping the spread of the corona virus or is it in the realm of some 1984-level craziness?
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