Downey: Tech controls will overcome drone privacy concerns just as with GPS
Jonathan Downey · a16z Podcast | Airspace as the Next Internet-Like Platform · Jan 2, 2019 · at 30:27
Jonathan Downey, founder and CEO of Airware, compares public hesitation surrounding drone surveillance to early consumer anxieties about smartphone GPS tracking.
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“I think that the same thing is playing out here with drone use, which is to say, yes, this is a technology that could be used to invade people's privacy, but with some basically, you know, technology controls on it can also add a tremendous amount of value to society without invading people's privacy.”
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More from Jonathan Downey
Downey: The FAA granted over 4,000 commercial drone exemptions by mid-2016
“Yeah, so the section three 33 exemption process was created last fall, and now just, you know, nine months later or so, there's over 4000 granted exemptions in the U.S. For commercial use of drones across a variety of different industries”
Downey: Privacy laws should be technology-agnostic regardless of whether drones are used
“These types of laws should be technology agnostic. Shouldn't matter whether it's binoculars used or whether it's a drone used or a ladder.”
Downey: Major enterprises will deploy commercial drones operationally by late 2017
“So I think that's the thing that's most exciting to me and something that I also expect we're going to see in the next 18 months. Commercial companies actually move forward with, you know, commercial drones and aerial data as a way of doing business.”