The federal government uses military-grade border patrol drones to monitor protests.
Environmental advocates are using all sizes of drones to monitor and document their activities, as well as by journalists and activists to document large protests. In my new book, "The Good Drone," I document a wide range of pro- and anti-Drone uses. I show that these efforts have the potential to be more open.
When large, fixed-wing drones are diverted from the U.S.-Mexico border to monitor protests and when towns experiment with using drones to test people for diseases, it is time to think about how many eyes are in the sky. Learning how to simply disappear from view is one way that is within reach of nearly everyone.
Crowded skies.
Over the past decade there has been an explosion in the use of drones by the public. The FAA is struggling to respond as drones enter airspace. More of these devices are likely to be in the sky in the near future, flown by a cast of social, political and economic actors.
There is still a lot of debate about the use and spread of drones. The responses range from public policies that give community control over local airspace to the development of sophisticated jamming equipment and tactics for knocking drones out of the sky.
There is a scramble to deny airspace to drones, to hijack drones digitally, to control drones physically and to shoot drones down. Anti-drone measures include blunt force, 10-gauge shotguns, and well-trained hawks.
Many of the anti-drone measures are expensive. Some are not legal. hiding is the most legal way to avoid drones.
How to disappear.
Taking advantage of the natural and built environment is the first thing you can do to hide. It is possible to wait for bad weather since smaller devices like those used by local police have a hard time flying in high winds, dense fogs and heavy rains.
The Department of Homeland Security uses high-flying drones to protect themselves from weather, and trees, walls, alcoves and tunnels are more reliable than the weather.
The second thing you can do is reduce your digital footprints. Since they have digital signatures that can reveal your location, it is smart to avoid using wireless devices. This is useful for evading drones, but also important for avoiding other privacy-invading technologies.
You can confuse a drone. Placing mirrors on the ground, standing over broken glass, and wearing elaborate headgear can break up and distort the image a drone sees.
Mannequins and other forms of mimicry can confuse the on-board sensors and the analysts charged with monitoring the drone's video and sensor feeds.
The mannequin trick will show the drones equipped with IR sensors, but they are confused by tactics that mask the body's temperature. A space blanket can be used to mask a lot of the body's heat, and hiding in an area that matches the body's temperature is another option.
You can protect yourself from drones by getting a disguise. Creative experiments meant to mask one's identity have exploded due to the growth of mass surveillance. Some of the smartest ideas are old-school. Hats, glasses, masks and scarves go a long way toward scrambling facial-recognition software, so clothing is the first choice.
Your fingerprints are as unique as your gait. The key pivot points used in identifying the walker will need to be masked. It is possible that the best response is to use a minor leg brace or wear loose clothing.
Artists and scientists have taken these approaches a step further, developing a wrap hoodie that is intended to shield the owner's heat signature and to scramble facial recognition software.
An umbrella is a must have.
umbrellas may be the most ubiquitous and robust tactic in this list. They are easy to carry and dispose of in a hurry. If you want, you can build a high-tech one.
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It would be nice to live in a world where law enforcement did not use small drones and the Department of Homeland Security did not use large drones to surveil protesters. It would be nice if people in some parts of the world didn't associate the sound of a drone with missile fire. It is good to know how to hide.
The author is Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick.
The good drone is how social movements democratize.
MIT Press is a member of The Conversation US.
The Conversation is a news site that shares ideas from academic experts. It was written by a student at the University of San Diego.
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