Do drones pose a new threat to our privacy, or are they just the fruits of innovative technology with benefits for governments and industry?

A mini inquiry at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday will try to answer the question.

The drone "roundtable" inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs follows the release of the 2012-13 annual report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner last year.

In the report, Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, said two pieces of technology — aerial drones and Google Glass — had caught the community’s attention in relation to privacy because of their potential for collecting personal information.