United Arab Emirates To Launch Eye-Scanning Delivery Drones

[big_dog]

Source: USA Today 1:56 p.m. EST February 11, 2014

The United Arab Emirates is set to launch a fly-by courier service that uses eyeball-scanning unmanned aerial vehicles to drop off government documents.

While Americans tend to be suspicious — if not outright derisive — of drones, it appears that UAE citizens will have to get used to an unmanned aerial delivery service. This week the country announced plans to use drones to deliver official documents, licenses, packages, and other government materials. The service will launch with a six-month trial period in Dubai and then expand to the rest of the country.

Engineers associated with the project told Reuters that the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be equipped with fingerprint and eye-recognition hardware to ensure proper delivery and pre-empt theft, which sounds far more secure than signing that electronic tablet the UPS guy carries around. The project will initially include delivery of identity cards, driver's licenses, and other permits.

According to UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, the project is the first of its kind in the world. Similar plans have been announced in China and the U.S., but not by government agencies — those projects are spearheaded by private companies aiming to deliver purchased goods.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/02/11/dubai-delivers-ids-via-drone/5391001/

[Kelvin Mace]

1. You'll put you eye out

with something like that.

[big_dog]

2. Sky Net has to start somewhere...

[CFLDem]

3. Dumbest idea ever

I'm normally a proponent of cutting edge automation similar to this, but I think this just makes it so much easier for thieves to get a hold of sensitive information.

[awoke_in_2003]

4. They are used to an

an extremely authoritarian religion, so the use of drones probably doesn't bother them a whit.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. I read somewhere recently that Mexico is now requiring newborns be retinally scanned into the Gov't

database. Big Brother is here, it does seem.