PRE2015 3 Groep1 considerations
Safety
Drones require several limits to reduce the chance for risks and accidents. Every drone will be facing technological problems which are inevitable, but some interventions may reduce their occurance or their impact.
The more complicated a drone will be the more (technological) problems are given the possibility to intervene. For example, the more autonomously the drone is, the more ethical and technological issues are to be resolved. Therefore the more complex the drone and its actions, the greater the decrease of it’s reliability. This is why it is usefull to keep a drone as simple as possible.
Reducement of navigation errors or obstacle collision is reached by sufficiend data feeds of the surrounding of the drone. The better the information is about the surrounding the better the drone will function. It is also favourable to have a more or less continuous data feed. This reduces the possibility of missing information or obstacles and therefore reduces collisions. Another navigation improving property is the amount of training data or options a drone is given. By having more options in certain situations , the drone is more likely to be able to choose the right choice. Of course there must not be that many options for the drone to be slow in decision making, because this would have a rather negative effect on the decision making.
In our concept the drone communicates with the safety guard , and this safety guard has the final decision responsibility. This has consequences for the drones actions. Therefore the communication of the drone with other drones or the surveillance center Is very important. Airwaves or electronic communications can interfere in the drones communication and prevent the message to arrive at the surveillance center or back at the drone. Because those messages have a huge impact on the drones actions, it is important to secure the communication to ensure a safe surrounding for the intruders which are probably close to the drone at that moment. Cheap drones are mostly quite easy to hack. Therefore a certain amount of costs must probably be made to secure the drone to the right level.
Any collision with a drone easily has a big impact. Not only the kinetic energy the drone exerts is of importance, the propellors too can cause serious trauma’s or injury’s. The damage by the drone is less if the drone is smaller if the drone itself is smaller too. This requires a drone as small as possible for our application. On the other hand, a drone too small or light is too easily affected by external forces like the wind or lightning. A good compromise must be found between the two of these.
Besides the physical damage the drone itself can cause, it can distract or interfere with other vehicles which will cause accidents. In this project we won’t include intentionally induced harm, the drone is not made to fight the intruder. Solely to slow it down or capture its face in a picture.
Furthermore the reaction of the drone in certain unexpected situations is very important. By choosing a drone which for example can still land safely when one of its propellors has a ddefect we can ensure more safe situations. Even so it has to autmatically react on low battery signals and be able to reach the docking station before the battery is fully empty
Weather conditions are very difficult for drones. The wind can displace the drone, and it must be able to find its way back to it’s surrounding.This wind can also make the drone suspectible for hitting a person if it’s too close and the wind catches on. the drone needs to take the wind in account in staying in a safe distance from obstacles and especially persons
Privacy
Privacy is a very important subject in the use of security drones because these drones can film and record everything and everybody they see. Because of this, is it necessary to find out more about the rules and laws around filming in public and private area.
Public areas
First of all, the laws says that any filming or photographing of a person with a mounted camera is forbidden, unless this is clearly announced beforehand.
This means that taking a photo or filming with for example a smartphone without announcing, is allowed. It is also allowed to film with a fixed camera as long as you make sure nobody that is being recorded can be recognized. These rule apply in any public domain. This is not just the street. This also holds for restaurants for example. Despite the fact that the restaurant is private property, anyone can come in so it is a public domain (it is also irrelevant whether it you have to pay in order to enter or not). You do not necessarily have to inform people with a written sign. It is also sufficient if, for example, the camera is immediately visible for the person entering the area. Some stores hang a monitor next to the entrance so people can see what the camera sees. This is also sufficient.
To summarize this: Filming or photographing people in public domain is only allowed if everyone in that specific area knows (in some way) about the fact that they could be filmed (or photographed).
Private areas
The law says that recording (or photographing) in private area is forbidden if this is not clearly announced beforehand. There is no difference in recording with a fixed camera and recording with a ‘’pocket camera’’ (smartphone, digital camera). This does not hold for recording in your own house, garden or office.
The prohibition on recording in private areas is based on violating the privacy of the recorded persons in these areas. However, this does not hold for a person that has illegally entered that area. So using a camera to record an burglar is allowed, but this does not mean that you can record anyone because they might be a burglar.
The laws says that recording is allowed (in principle) if this is clearly announced beforehand. However, it could still be allowed to film without clearly announcing this, but only when there is a strong reason to do so.
Use for evidence
It is allowed for civilians or companies to hand over footage to the police if there are illegal acts on this footage. Even if this footage is obtained illegally. The footage can be used as evidence because it was a civilian who was violating the law. This would be different if the police would be involved in acquiring the footage. This does not mean that the civilian who made the recordings goes unpunished. Even if the footage can be used as evidence, the filmmaker still risks a conviction.
Relation to security drones
Security drones use cameras to film what is happening around them. The big question is: What privacy problems occur when using a security drone? The law contains little information about using drones with cameras for security. There are some articles available about privacy regarding the government using surveillance drones. But in our situation, the drones are owned by private companies. So, for now, we will try to use existing laws for regular cameras for implementing security drones. Because the cameras that security drones use are not in the hand of a person, we consider these cameras to be fixed cameras. This means that it is always obligated to inform people that are near these drones about the fact that they could be recorded. Implementing this indoors can easily be done by placing signs at each entrance of the secured building. Implementing this for a private outdoor area can be a bit harder. But it would still be possible to place signs around the area that warn you that it is forbidden to enter the area as well as that are drones with cameras in the area. These signs can automatically warn people that are close to the area, but still in a public area, about the cameras, which should cover the problem of filming with a “fixed” camera in a public area.
The last problem that needs to be solved, has to do with following an escaping suspect. When a drone is following a suspect, there is a big possibility that the suspect will leave the (public) area where these signs are placed. This would mean that the drone is filming illegally in a public domain. This can cause regulatory problems. However, one could argue that it is authorized to film in this case because there is a strong reason to do so.