Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wants everyone to know that drones are a threat to privacy.
During a senate hearing Wednesday on the future of the unmanned aerial vehicles in the U.S., Feinstein told a story in which she heard a demonstration outside of her house. When Feinstein peered through the window, she was startled by a drone, flying right in front of her face. Once the remote operator saw her through the drone's camera, it spun out of control and crashed. "So, I felt a little good about that," she said.
It was a cautionary tale. According to Feinstein, drones can be extremely intrusive, and the time to pass legislation to protect Americans' privacy is now, as they will soon be a common sight in U.S. skies. The Federal Aviation Administration has a mandate to integrate civilian drones into the airspace by 2015, but many drones — operated by research centers, law-enforcement agencies, and even hobbyists — are already flying.
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"There should be strong binding enforceable privacy policies," she said. "And that can be done before the technology is upon us."
Feinstein, who didn't reveal more about the drone incident (her press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment) is strongly in support of enacting privacy-protecting legislation before drones' full integration in U.S. airspace.
Sometimes known as a supporter of National Security Agency surveillance, Feinstein also proposed mandatory warrant requirements for police use of drones. When asked about the same issue last year, she said, "It all depends."
Feinstein is not the only one calling for the use of warrants.
Last August, a poll revealed that the vast majority of Americans support such a requirement. Many states have passed similar laws, and last year, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) proposed a federal law that requires public agencies to get a warrant before using a drone for surveillance.
"These 20th century eyes in the sky shouldn't become spies in the sky," Markey said during the hearing. "Flying –- and potentially spying -– robots sounds like science fiction, but they are a reality right now. And the technology is getting cheaper and more accessible," he added, while holding a Parrot AR.Drone in his hand, which costs less than $300.
For privacy experts, a law passed before the 2015 integration deadline that mandates warrant requirements for authorities, is a must.
"All rules need to be put in place before the full integration," Amie Stepanovich, an attorney at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Mashable. "Because what we've seen with privacy-invasive technologies is that once they are adopted and released into the population, it's very hard to retroactively fit in privacy rules."
It's unclear, however, whether U.S. Congress is willing to take on such legislation. Besides, the booming drone industry will likely intervene.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, an industry advocacy group, predicts that within the fist three years of the drone integration, the industry will create more than 70,000 jobs and have an impact of $13.6 billion on the U.S. economy. By 2025, those numbers will grow to 100,000 jobs and $82 billion, respectively, according to the group's estimates.
In addition to privacy, the hearing also briefly touched on another key issue that could slow down drone integration: safety. Some senators expressed concern over letting unmanned flying robots share the airspace with thousands of manned airplanes. Sense and avoid systems, which would allow drones to automatically detect and dodge other aircrafts, should be a requirement, they said.
Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) even raised the issue of hacking. In July 2012, researchers at the University of Texas showed how easy it is to hijack a drone, and the FAA, as well as drone manufacturers, were surprised by their stunt.
When asked about the possibility of hacking at the Wednesday hearing, FAA administrator Michael Huerta said he is "concerned," but did not provide much more than a vague commitment to work on improving drones' safety systems.
Missy Cummings, a Duke University professor and former Navy pilot, recognizes that it's "very easy" to hack into a drone's GPS navigational system, but said drones are relatively safe.
"On average, a drone is a better pilot than I am," she said at the Wednesday hearing.
The tone of the two-hour hearing was mostly serious, but some senators took the opportunity to joke around.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), said he is worried about Americans' private data being collected by data-broking companies.
"If data brokers of today control the UAS [Unmanned Aerial Systems], I would leave promptly for Canada," he said.
Others, such as Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), tried to trumpet their geek credentials. Booker, who said he was excited by the "whole new frontier" of drones, added that he has to be cautious because "as a sci-fi fan," he is caught between "my Star Trek aspirations and my Terminator fears."

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