Drones are getting ever more advanced. With the constant development of computer and battery technology this is no surprise.

Now we have come to the point where consumer-grade drones can fly themselves, autonomously of any pilot, and there are no signs that the development will stop any time soon.

Enter the Skydio 2. It is not a quadcopter. It is not even a drone. It’s an action cam that flies without need for any input or commands on your behalf. You just program it to follow you and that’s what it will do, while at the same time keeping track of its surroundings, avoiding all obstacles.

Is it good, though?

Well, it’s great if you want to take exciting action shots for your Youtube videos or movies. It will do its job independently of what you do, and it will do so perfectly, without any need for input.

However, it is not difficult to imagine how this technology can be used for outright malicious purposes.

If the technology exists today, in fairly-priced consumer equipment that anyone can buy, it is not hard to imagine that people with criminal intent and resources have access to even more advanced equipment and no, they’re probably not using it for making fun Youtube videos. They’re using it for bad purposes.

Drones follow us everywhere

Someone wrote in a vision document that in the future we would all have our personal drones, hovering above our heads, to help us in our everyday lives and assist us if we’re ever in trouble.

From the latest product announcements for the Skydio 2 it sounds that future is almost here already.

So, what’s the problem here, really? It is one of privacy.

Imagine being followed by someone, but instead of a person, that you could see and possibly shake off, it’s a drone. And it’s absolutely everywhere.

It doesn’t even have to be one drone. There is nothing stopping us now from deploying drone networks, which will do exactly that, only in a more discreet fashion.
So, is this new piece of hardware really such a good idea, or is it a sign that it’s time to run into the woods?