Celebs beware! New Pandora's box of 'personal' drones that could stalk anyone from Brangelina to your own child



They could put your mind at ease - or do very much the opposite.



A new arms race is on and it could change everything from the way we parent to how we get our celebrity gossip.

For the technology currently being used by the CIA to ferret out terrorist leaders in the hills of Pakistan is set to arrive in a neighbourhood near you - and there's nowhere to hide.

Coming to a sky near you? A remote CCTV camera drone circles in the sky during a political rally in Britain last year. Drones are set to play a large part in the future of policing - but could they affect our personal lives also?

Personal drones - smaller, private versions of the infamous Predator - are the next hot technology for people looking to track celebrities, cheating lovers, or even wildlife.

And it could be a dream tool for the paparazzi, named after the Iralian for buzzing mosquitoes.



Now the metaphor is coming to life. Several personal drones are scheduled for completion next year.

A police constable in Liverpool tries out the force's new remote-controlled UAV. Liverpool police have already used such drones to make at least one arrest

The officer can see from the drone's perspective using a special pair of goggles

Already in the UK police are using drones to track thieves. In February, the Air Robot was deployed by Merseyside police after officers lost an alleged car thief who had escaped on foot in thick fog.



Using the device's on-board camera and thermal-imaging technology, the operator was able to pick up the suspect through his body heat and direct foot patrols to his location. It led officers to a 16-year-old youth, who was hiding in bushes alongside the Leeds-Liverpool canal, in Litherland, Merseyside. The drone, which measures 3ft between the tips of its four carbon fibre rotor blades, uses unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology originally designed for military reconnaissance. The battery-powered device can have a range of cameras attached to its main body, including CCTV surveillance or thermal imaging cameras. It is designed to hover almost silently above crime scenes and send live footage to officers on the ground, but the unit can also 'perch and stare' from a solid platform, allowing the operator to capture hours of footage from a hidden vantage point. Merseyside Police is one of a handful of forces trying out the devices which, at £40,000 each, are far cheaper to use for small-scale operations than a conventional helicopter. They have been using the drones for two years, mainly to help in search and rescue operations, to execute drug warrants and to crack down on anti-social behaviour. The Home Office is now exploring how the craft can be used to give back-up to police, ambulance and fire services. A Predator drone like the ones used to hunt down terrorist leaders in Pakistan (file photo). The military must follow rules of engagement with such technology, but there are no such rules governing private use yet Spy drones are considered the future of policing, although critics have voiced concerns that they could be a worrying extension of Big Brother Britain. Last month arms manufacturer BAE Systems said it was adapting military-style UAVs for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent police. Documents showed the force hoped to begin using the drones in time for the 2012 Olympics. But they also indicated that the drones could eventually be used to spy on the civilian population, by rooting out motorists suspected of antisocial driving, for covert urban surveillance and to monitor 'waste management' for local councils.

Similar concepts are already being developed in the U.S.

'If the Israelis can use them to find terrorists, certainly a husband is going to be able to track a wife who goes out at 11 o'clock at night and follow her,' New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder told the Journal.

The technology is swiftly moving beyond military and even police circles - already unmanned aircraft that can fly predetermined routes cost just a few hundred dollars and can be operated by an iPhone.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former Navy fighter pilot Missy Cummings is working to develop a 'Personal Sentry' drone about the size of a pizza box that warns soldiers if danger is approaching from behind.

But, she said, 'that military stuff is kind of passe'.

'It doesn't take a rocket scientist from MIT to tell you if we can do it for a soldier in the field, we can do it for anybody.'

She told the Wall Street Journal that she could use such technology to follow her young child on the way to school by planting an electronic bug in her lunch box or backpack.



'It would bring a whole new meaning to the term hover parent,' she said.

The FAA has not approved the use of personal drones just yet. But a spokesman said the agency is working with private industry on standards that could allow the broader use of drones.

Grey areas already exist, however - particularly with the recreational use of drones.



There are no regulations governing recreational drone use. Instead the FAA recommends - emphasis on 'recommends' - such drones be flown away from populated areas, from aeroplanes, below a certain altitude and so on.

And if people claim their drones are for personal use, that could theoretically get around many FAA regulations.

So while the military has to follow rules of engagement regarding drone use, there is - as yet - no similar set of rules regarding privacy for domestic use of drones.

'If everybody had enough money to buy one of these things, we could all be wandering around with little networks of vehicles flying over our heads spying on us,' Ms Cummings said.



'It really opens up a whole new Pandora's Box of: What does it mean to have privacy?'