Plan to use coronavirus-detecting drones in US abandoned after residents complain of privacy...

[midian182]

What just happened? The plan to use drones that can detect Covid-19 symptoms while also enforcing social distancing measures in the US has been put on hold. It seems residents of Westport, Connecticut, which was going to launch a pilot program, have objected to the project due to privacy concerns.

Last week, it was reported that drone-maker Draganfly’s drones were being tested in the US. The devices use specialized onboard thermal sensors and a smart computer vision system to monitor people’s temperature, heart and respiratory rates from a distance of 190 feet, potentially helping identify those infected with Covid-19. They can also measure social distancing between individuals, and even detect people sneezing or coughing in crowds.

The drones had already been chosen to help slow the spread of Covid-19 in Australia, and the Westport Police Department (WPD) was trialing them in the US. But residents weren’t happy about being watched by the drones.

As reported by Westport News, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Connecticut raised privacy concerns about the UAVs, adding that public money would be better spend on other measures to fight Covid-19. The plan also resulted in a small number of protestors gathering outside of the local police department.

“We are not hearing a cry for new surveillance technologies,” said David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut. “The urgent need at the moment, according to public health experts, is to ramp up testing capability, suppress transmission through social distancing measures, and support our hospitals as they face an influx of patients.”

The drones don’t use facial recognition technology or collect personalized data on individuals, but it appears an eye in the sky is a bit too dystopian for many locals, even if it is for their own good.

In a Facebook post, First Selectman Marpe of the WPD writes that in the department’s “good faith effort to get ahead of the virus and potential need to manage and safely monitor crowds and social distancing in this environment, our announcement [to trial the drones] was perhaps misinterpreted, not well-received, and posed many additional questions.”

One of the protestors, who’d complained that the drones could “lead people to being unnecessarily harassed,” said: “The decision by the Westport Police Department to scrap their drone program is a victory for the people and civil liberties, especially in a time of overreach.”

WPD Chief Foti Koskinas didn’t appear to rule out future use of the technology in some form, saying it could still become “a valuable lifesaving tool.”

Draganfly said it was working with other communities around the US that are interested in using its drones. Whether it runs into protests in these regions remains to be seen.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/84994-plan-use-coronavirus-detecting-drones-us-abandoned-after.html

 

[Hexic]

Couldn't have seen this coming.

 

[Uncle Al]

Been in the news a little bit. The FAA and Federal Authorities need to severely restrict the use of drones by any authoritative body except in the execution of a Search Warrant. The opportunity for abuse is far too great and we see enough of that going on unchecked from police as it is.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Covid19: It’s a stupid excuse To cancel out our civil liberties.

 

[psycros]

Covid19: It’s a stupid excuse To cancel out our civil liberties.

Civil liberties have been suspended in the past during times of crisis, it's just that the last such period was almost 20 years ago. I'm more concerned about the secret violations of our privacy that have been ongoing since that time. Every American should be able to easily learn what information corporations and governments are collecting about them and sharing with other entities. Right now its an excruciating process by design.

 

[stewi0001]

Personally, I think we are too far into the COVID-19 pandemic for these drones to be useful.

 

[Aqueltic]

This is why COVID-19 cases continue to rise making the U.S. become the number 1 country of COVID-19 cases. People don't want to do stuff which they see as the government pushing them around and they justify this by whining about their personal liberties

 

[Shadowboxer]

I really don’t like the idea of drones monitoring humans for whatever reason.

We should be fighting this virus on a microscopic level, with drugs, UV light, disinfectant in the veins etc.

Lockdowns are draconian. It feels like we are cutting off our legs because one toe got infected.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Drones have 2 purposes only: delivering me packages and taking compromising pictures of people having sex!

 

[Lew Zealand]

We should be fighting this virus on a microscopic level, with drugs, UV light, disinfectant in the veins etc.

What's your preferred vein disinfectant?

 

[Lionvibez]

Couldn't have seen this coming.

You will never be able to push something like this in the US.

American citizens believe their rights trump everything.

Example we need to ban guns due to all the gun related deaths.

Citizens : No way in hell are you taking my guns.

Lawmakers : but its for the good of the country.

Citizens : we don't care I have my rights.

Now switch that with Covid detection drones.

 

[Hexic]

You will never be able to push something like this in the US.

American citizens believe their rights trump everything.

Example we need to ban guns due to all the gun related deaths.

Citizens : No way in hell are you taking my guns.

Lawmakers : but its for the good of the country.

Citizens : we don't care I have my rights.

Now switch that with Covid detection drones.

If you could not re-politicize a post with an unrelated topic with subjective views, that would be great. Thanks.

 

[p51d007]

This is why COVID-19 cases continue to rise making the U.S. become the number 1 country of COVID-19 cases. People don't want to do stuff which they see as the government pushing them around and they justify this by whining about their personal liberties

You do realize, that with each day, the number of deaths is going DOWN because so many have been pressured to tag the death as the corona virus.
Here's just one example of a couple of ER type doctors that have a urgent care clinic and some of the things they have found out doing their own math.
The funniest part is where he says "Dr Fauci hasn't treated a patient in 20 years"

 

[Lew Zealand]

I'll just address one of their claims about the flu being no diffferent in effect from covid-19. Flu kills around 20-50K people in the US every year and is widespread. Covid-19 has already killed 56,800 in the US is a couple of months and is not even widespread yet. I assume the rest of their claims are as narrow/misinformed as that one.

 

[toooooot]

Personally, I think we are too far into the COVID-19 pandemic for these drones to be useful.

Assassin drones that can sense and kill covid patients however...

 

[Danny101]

I'll just address one of their claims about the flu being no diffferent in effect from covid-19. Flu kills around 20-50K people in the US every year and is widespread. Covid-19 has already killed 56,800 in the US is a couple of months and is not even widespread yet. I assume the rest of their claims are as narrow/misinformed as that one.

Except that Covid-19 death cases has been largely inflated due to many deaths being misstated as Covid-19 caused. My opinion is that's it's a massive psyop that's being used for for a purpose. But what? Many theories abound. Something stinks with this plandemic including that this so-called virus is said to actually be an exosome, an infection fighter, and not a virus, and so it's evident they're not telling the full truth.

 

[Shadowboxer]

You will never be able to push something like this in the US.

American citizens believe their rights trump everything.

Example we need to ban guns due to all the gun related deaths.

Citizens : No way in hell are you taking my guns.

Lawmakers : but its for the good of the country.

Citizens : we don't care I have my rights.

Now switch that with Covid detection drones.

I mean I don’t want guns in society. But if some bloke in a fancy building somewhere decides I can’t leave my house and that I should have my privacy violated by drones then I’d probably want a gun.

I’d certainly rather have that sort of bullshit than the bullshit that goes on in China right now. Where citizens have an app for reporting their fellow citizens. Where the internet is heavily censored etc.

 

[Lionvibez]

I mean I don’t want guns in society. But if some bloke in a fancy building somewhere decides I can’t leave my house and that I should have my privacy violated by drones then I’d probably want a gun.

Ahh but this isn't some bloke its the government during a virus outbreak so a little different from your example. The medical community of the world is basically all saying the same thing.

And china is communist no body wants what they do over there.

My opinion is that's it's a massive psyop that's being used for for a purpose. But what? Many theories abound. Something stinks with this plandemic including that this so-called virus is said to actually be an exosome, an infection fighter, and not a virus, and so it's evident they're not telling the full truth.

This is a little to tin foil hat for me.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Except that Covid-19 death cases has been largely inflated due to many deaths being misstated as Covid-19 caused. My opinion is that's it's a massive psyop that's being used for for a purpose. But what? Many theories abound. Something stinks with this plandemic including that this so-called virus is said to actually be an exosome, an infection fighter, and not a virus, and so it's evident they're not telling the full truth.

Many theories abound about everything, every topic you can choose. The vast majority are bullshit and this pandemic is no different. I'll stick to the scientific consensus about this just like I stick to the scientific consensus about vaccines or HIV/AIDS.

 

[Squid Surprise]

My opinion is that's it's a massive psyop that's being used for for a purpose......and so it's evident they're not telling the full truth.

Before you go about spreading misinformation, maybe learn the difference between evidence and opinion? If something is “evident”, it means it is proven by evidence.... care to provide any?

 

[Danny101]

Before you go about spreading misinformation, maybe learn the difference between evidence and opinion? If something is “evident”, it means it is proven by evidence.... care to provide any?

Cases are inflated to be more than actual. Plenty of those reports on social media. We know mainstream media never tells the whole truth. Not buying the hype. Everything's clouded in spin. There's always a political angle being played no matter how insignificant or great the subject is. It can't ever be just what it is. Sunrise or sky is falling, geesh! Agree or disagree, that's just how I see it til it's proven different. Not holding my breath.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Cases are inflated to be more than actual. Plenty of those reports on social media. As if mainstream media is telling the whole truth. Not buying the hype. Everything's clouded in spin. There's always a political angle being played no matter how insignificant or great the subject is. It can't ever just be what it is. Sunrise or sky is falling, geesh!

Ok... once again... provide PROOF!
Social Media does not constitute evidence by the way... you can check out the CDC and WHO websites that give pretty accurate statements...
Feel free to provide some compelling reasons for us not to trust them other than “lots of us know better”...

 

[Lionvibez]

In the words of the late great Carl Sagan.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”

 

[Squid Surprise]

For those of you who think self-isolating is dumb or unnecessary... let's explain with a couple of examples even a child should understand:

Example 1) Let's pretend you are playing a video game...

The typical video game generally gives you a protagonist (see: character) who, at first, is pretty weak... the goal of the game is generally to defeat a vast quantity of enemies....

Thing is, it takes time and experience to get your character strong enough to defeat all the enemies.... so the game doles out enemies over time - you get weaker enemies at first, and, as your character defeats them, your character gets stronger. By the end of the game, your character can defeat the strongest enemies the game throws at you... hurray!

Now, let's assume your game was designed terribly... and your character starts really weak... but gets thrown enemies from the end of the game right away... (for an actual example, try Wing Commander Privateer when you use the hack to add the cool alien gun to your ship). Guess what happens to your character?

Example 2) Let's pretend you are building a sand castle

So, you're at the beach and you want to build a really cool sand castle that is immune to the tide... if you're smart, you start away from the water and build up....

By the time the tide reaches your castle, the walls are high and thick, and the waves don't wreck your castle...

But if you started at high tide.... well, your castle probably doesn't get more than a few inches high before being washed away...
___________________________
In REALITY, we WILL, eventually, be exposed to Covid 19. Much like Influenza, there is nothing, short of isolating (real isolating, not the half-measures we're doing now) FOREVER, that will prevent this.

But, fortunately, we have some really smart people out there (obviously not the majority of the population - thank goodness we only need a few!) who, given TIME and RESOURCES, will be able to provide testing, treatment, vaccines, and (we hope) a cure.

But if we don't give these brilliant minds time and resources, we will be swamping our nation's systems with millions of cases - many of which won't be curable or treatable simply due to numbers (x amount of health workers / hospital beds, 1000x amount of cases!), so people who might have lived had they caught the disease next year, will die because they have it now.

It would be like introducing your level 1 fighter to a Pit Fiend (D&D reference - sorry folks!)... or your tiny sand castle to a Tsunami...

Ask someone who died of the Spanish Flu back in 1919 - and there were MILLIONS - assuming you could talk to the dead. Had they caught it even a year or 2 later, they probably would have lived... I bet those people, if they were able to see us now, wished their nations understood social distancing...

Yes, the odds are not "high" of you dying of the disease if you catch it... BUT.... the odds increase exponentially if millions of people catch it at the same time as you... And if it isn't YOU who dies - it's going to be someone else.... Maybe even someone you care about.

And here's the thing... people tend to follow information that pleases them - or frightens them (AKA: information they want to believe, or are afraid to believe).
If people are convinced to isolate - even for the wrong reasons - many lives will be saved.

If people are convinced that isolating is useless - even if SOME of the reasons might be valid - thousands (or maybe millions) of people will die.

In conclusion: maybe think a bit harder before you decide the government is conspiring against you... maybe they just want to save you from yourself!

 

[Shadowboxer]

For those of you who think self-isolating is dumb or unnecessary... let's explain with a couple of examples even a child should understand:

Example 1) Let's pretend you are playing a video game...

The typical video game generally gives you a protagonist (see: character) who, at first, is pretty weak... the goal of the game is generally to defeat a vast quantity of enemies....

Thing is, it takes time and experience to get your character strong enough to defeat all the enemies.... so the game doles out enemies over time - you get weaker enemies at first, and, as your character defeats them, your character gets stronger. By the end of the game, your character can defeat the strongest enemies the game throws at you... hurray!

Now, let's assume your game was designed terribly... and your character starts really weak... but gets thrown enemies from the end of the game right away... (for an actual example, try Wing Commander Privateer when you use the hack to add the cool alien gun to your ship). Guess what happens to your character?

Example 2) Let's pretend you are building a sand castle

So, you're at the beach and you want to build a really cool sand castle that is immune to the tide... if you're smart, you start away from the water and build up....

By the time the tide reaches your castle, the walls are high and thick, and the waves don't wreck your castle...

But if you started at high tide.... well, your castle probably doesn't get more than a few inches high before being washed away...
___________________________
In REALITY, we WILL, eventually, be exposed to Covid 19. Much like Influenza, there is nothing, short of isolating (real isolating, not the half-measures we're doing now) FOREVER, that will prevent this.

But, fortunately, we have some really smart people out there (obviously not the majority of the population - thank goodness we only need a few!) who, given TIME and RESOURCES, will be able to provide testing, treatment, vaccines, and (we hope) a cure.

But if we don't give these brilliant minds time and resources, we will be swamping our nation's systems with millions of cases - many of which won't be curable or treatable simply due to numbers (x amount of health workers / hospital beds, 1000x amount of cases!), so people who might have lived had they caught the disease next year, will die because they have it now.

It would be like introducing your level 1 fighter to a Pit Fiend (D&D reference - sorry folks!)... or your tiny sand castle to a Tsunami...

Ask someone who died of the Spanish Flu back in 1919 - and there were MILLIONS - assuming you could talk to the dead. Had they caught it even a year or 2 later, they probably would have lived... I bet those people, if they were able to see us now, wished their nations understood social distancing...

Yes, the odds are not "high" of you dying of the disease if you catch it... BUT.... the odds increase exponentially if millions of people catch it at the same time as you... And if it isn't YOU who dies - it's going to be someone else.... Maybe even someone you care about.

And here's the thing... people tend to follow information that pleases them - or frightens them (AKA: information they want to believe, or are afraid to believe).
If people are convinced to isolate - even for the wrong reasons - many lives will be saved.

If people are convinced that isolating is useless - even if SOME of the reasons might be valid - thousands (or maybe millions) of people will die.

In conclusion: maybe think a bit harder before you decide the government is conspiring against you... maybe they just want to save you from yourself!

Lockdown is dumb. It’s like cutting your arm off because you got a mild infection in your little finger. It’s a panicked response by world leaders in the face of a very contagious novel virus. There are plenty of countries who have managed to control the outbreak without draconian lockdown measures. It’s not a conspiracy it’s just plain incompetence.

The global death rate remains unchanged from this virus. However when the casualties from lockdown comes in we will probably see that rise. We already have hundreds of millions unemployed. High unemployment leads to poorer health, higher crime, drug addictions and ultimately higher deaths.

The world is generally stupid. This includes people who believe locking down a society is a good idea.