Why Are Drones Following Me?
Drones are regularly used by government agencies and private organizations for surveillance, search and rescue, disaster assistance, and more. Without a doubt, drones are often used for good. Nonetheless, some people worry that drones violate their right to privacy and even claim that drones were following them.
Back in March 2019, a woman from Oregon was working on her computer in the kitchen when she spotted a strange light shining through the window. And no, it was not an alien spaceship.
What she actually saw out her window was actually a drone. The drone had already disappeared by the time she called her husband to the window to look at it. She was disappointed to learn that no action could be taken after calling the local sheriff's office.
Homeowners having close calls with drones is nothing new, and they may become more prevalent as the number of drones continues to increase.
Do Drones Follow You?
Drones are helping to increase security and productivity in a variety of fields. Despite this, some people worry that they invade privacy and collect too much data. Individuals's privacy is at stake in the drone debate, with many people alleging that drones have been tracking their every move. You might be wondering why a drone would be following you.
If you are certain that a drone is following you, someone is most likely spying on you, as a drone would only follow someone deliberately if the drone operator is controlling a drone to do so.
How Does a Drone Follow You?
It's a common misconception that if a drone is in the air near you, it's spying on you. But the presence of a drone in the area is not necessarily indicative of that.
You won't need any fancy gadgets to spot the drone if it's really spying on you. The drone collecting visual data about you from the sky will be simpler to identify if it is flying close to you. It will also be simpler to pick up on drone sounds.
However, some drones are too small to be noticed by the naked eye, making it difficult to spot them in the sky. There are additional ways to detect a drone that is spying on you if you suspect one is doing so but you can't see or hear it.
Machine Vision
Most commercial drones that follow someone around employ machine vision for their tracking system. H igh-tech software analyzes the camera image, and the integrated computer looks for the specified object.
In the beginning, this was a hit-or-miss process due to the fact that the drone's tracking ability was easily thrown off by the presence of unusual shadows on the target. It's typically accurate now. Modern drones can even determine where an item will reappear after disappearing under cover.
Drones' ability to avoid collisions and pick up on objects in three dimensions has been improved thanks to the addition of spatial sensors to basic machine vision.
GPS Beacon
The easiest approach to have a drone follow anything or anyone is to attach a tracking device to it. There are a few ways to go about it. Whether one employs a phone equipped with WiFi or a watertight wristband tracker, there are many options available.
Since the drone has a very precise target to shoot at, this is the most reliable approach to get that drone on someone's tail. In high-action adventures, when the subject frequently changes direction amongst other moving components, a combination of visual tracking and beacon tracking is the best approach.
How Can You Tell if a Drone Is Following and Watching You?
Most times, you may be able to visually identify that a drone is targeted on you. After all, it' s not hard to recognize a drone because many of them are quite big. It's definitely keeping an eye on you if it lingers nearby for a while or suddenly begins to approach you from a great distance. Invisible drones, however, present a new danger. Smaller and more covert drones mean that you can't always rely on your sight to detect one spying on you.
Radio
If you're sure that a drone is spying on you, a radio counter-surveillance technology can be used to locate and bring down any drone in the area. This method is useful for deciphering radio signals generated by drones and locating their sources.
Radars
Similarly, anti-drone radar can be used to detect any nearby drone that may be keeping tabs on you. Even if a drone is far away or well-hidden, a small radar designed to identify them can find it. Drone-detection radars are remarkably precise and could be purchased for a relatively low price.
Drone Detector Apps
If you're worried that a drone might be spying on you, there are various apps that could assist youto figure out if that's the case. You may use apps like DroneWatcher and Aerial Armor on your tablet or smartphone to keep an eye out for drones in the area.
In order to give you the highest level of protection possible, these apps combine data from several radars, RF sensors, and ADS-B. You will receive a push alert on your device if a drone is detected in the area you have set up for monitoring.
What To Do if if a Drone Is Following or Spying on You
The drone is probably just doing its job or shooting some wide-angle shots of the neighborhood and isn't necessarily focusing on you. The operator may be in plain sight, so you could approach the drone operator, however, don't be anxious if you don't hear a response right away.
Drone pilots who make a living doing it have a legal obligation to maintain a watchful eye on their drone at all times and should do so to ensure the safety of others around them. Attempting to communicate with them while they are in flight may or may not be met with a response.
Even the low-flying drones aren't necessarily following you. Properties for sale in the area, ongoing development, or map-making could all be in the drone's field of view. There are several acceptable scenarios in which a drone might be in the area near your home so don't jump to conclusions right away.
