Invasion of the Drones by Patricia Smith
The article, "Invasion of the Drones", by Patricia Smith is really interesting and informative about things we do not know about. It is about the positives and mostly negatives of drones flying in the sky all the time. In many countries like the United States, many people are concerned about their privacy getting invaded by the use of drones. Dozens of near-misses between drones and planes have occurred, and people worry that they might get injured by it. Moreover, drones help to kill suspected terrorists and other targets, but it may make it seem like war as a game. The author further talks into accidents and stories of what drones did to people, unintentionally.
The author is trying to say that although drones has helped the military in many ways, such as killing terrorists, people question it. They feel like it invades their privacy, prevents safety, and does not take warfare in a serious matter. It is also shown as unfair because innocent citizens get their privacy and safety taken away, which is something that the United States is supposed to provide. Smith describes drones as sly and does not support it. She uses many loaded words such as describing it as a "spy", which some people may see as creepy if they were to be the ones being spied on. She proves this by giving stories about it. For instance, she described how a topless girl had pictures of her mostly naked body in billboard real estate ads taken by a drone that had flew above her house. This depicts the little privacy that people have when drones are around. Smith also used the Fourteenth Amendment which states that people are protected from "unreasonable searches and seizures." Obviously, drones go against that. To add on, Smith used many statistics and quoted important people to sound more knowledgeable about this topic.
In response to what I read, I feel that if I were to be in a situation where drones took pictures of me without my permission, then I would certainly be creeped out and definitely invaded. It would be scary to have someone always watching every one of my moves. Even though they help the government seek for invaders of the country, they should somehow find another way to do that without taking away our rights. It also makes me think about people who do not know about this, but are being watched. It is disappointing to know that there is nothing being done about this. Overall, if the benefit of drones outweigh the negatives of drones, then we should still use drones, even if it is meant to sacrifice our safety and privacy.
