Does the thought of a drone being able to hear your conversations make you a little uncomfortable? I thought so. That’s why I did some serious digging to get to the truth, and here’s what was revealed.

According to a 2013 congressional report on the state of drone technology, it has been confirmed that drones are capable of listening in on your conversations, provided that they are equipped with the correct technology to do so.

Creepy, right? In order to do this, a drone would need to be able to record audio. Keep reading to find out exactly how this would be possible and what this means for you!

Can Drones Record Audio?

Yes, drones are capable of recording audio if they are equipped to do so. However, most drones do not record audio at the moment and only record video since hobby drones don’t come with audio recording devices built-in.

As you probably know, GoPros are cameras designed to be used for recording action sports but can be used for other forms of recording too. That being said, drones fitted with GoPros would be able to record audio.

The main reason for quad-copters not recording audio is because of how loud the propellers are. There is no point in recording audio on the camera if the audio you are trying to record with the drone can’t be heard over the sound of the propellers!

This is why drone companies like DJI don’t add a mic to a drone. The drone pilot can, however, record audio with the phone or tablet they are using to fly the drone.

It will be stored on the cached video of the device, and there will be no audio present when the video is transferred from the SD card to the computer. This doesn’t really help anyone who is trying to spy on another person with a drone!

This simply means that they need to get close enough to the person they are spying on to be able to pick them up on their device mic, therefore there will be no need for the drone. However, drones, like any other device or machine, can be outfitted with a mic to be able to record audio.

So, just because you do not see a GoPro attached to a drone, that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been outfitted with a mic that is recording audio.

Most drone enthusiasts use their mics on the devices to record audio while flying so that they can give commentary on the drone flight or for live streaming that video and audio to a live audience online.

Why Most Drones Won’t Record Audio

Mostly, the main way audio is added to drone videos is after the drone has landed and the pilot has gone home to review and edit the video footage. This audio is usually in the form of a voiceover or music for some awesome cinematic footage. So, the chances of someone eavesdropping on you with a drone are very low, mainly because of two reasons.

Noise.

The first reason is that most drones are used by people trying to have fun with their drones and record scenery.

There have probably only been a few incidents of people spying on other people using drones. In the past few years, drones have been popular because of the fact that drones are noisy and the person spying would be caught.

Time and Quality.

The second reason is the amount of time and money they would need to buy a mic and attach it to the drone to only be met with the loud noise of propellers and maybe just a little background noise would not be worth it.

With that being said, this does not mean that drones can’t spy on you, all it means is that it is very difficult and would take a lot of money and effort to be able to do so. But it is still very possible for a drone to spy and record audio and video.

All it would require is for the drone to be outfitted with a high-quality camera, maybe some infrared devices for being able to see objects in the dark or through objects and a directional mic capable of picking up sounds at a distance.

All these things are already on the market and available for purchase. The only thing is that these items are very expensive items individually, so to put them together would be really expensive and you would basically be building a military-grade spy drone.

Not really worth it for someone to go spy on their neighbor. You should be more worried about your average peeping Tom instead of a person with a drone trying to listen to your conversation!

The Future of Drones and Spying

Drones are constantly being developed and improving in many ways as technology also improves. Soon, all these expensive options I was talking about will be a normal thing for drones to come with.

This might be frightening, but as technology keeps improving and becomes more dangerous, defensive tech to combat this technology will also improve and there will be a way to avoid drones spying on you.

There are also drones being designed by companies for the US military that are smaller than an AA battery and designed to resemble hummingbirds. These drones can hover and fly through doorways and windows!

To have a drone that small with the ability to relay real-time video and audio to people on the ground or at a base is frightening!

The Future

Like cars, planes, and phones, drones are pieces of technology that were invented and used in the military before slowly being improved and introduced for regular people to use every day.

Drones are here to stay and we need to get used to the fact that it might not be normal people spying on us using drones, but instead, it could be our government or other governments using them to take a closer look at our lives.

Soon we will be using drones for deliveries, travel, and a lot more but how could they be used against us? Well, drones have cameras that can have facial recognition software that could be used to fly over our heads on our way to work and keep track of our movements.

At the moment, drones might just be flying cameras but in the future, they could be flying computers capable of analyzing the data they collect in real-time!

One day drones will be a lot quieter and the issue of propeller noise in the potential video will be a thing of the past, and companies will start adding mics to their drones.

How To Tell If a Drone Is Spying on You

The easiest way to know if a drone is spying on you is the distinctive noise that a drone makes when flying. If it is low enough for you to see, then you can take a look at the camera and if it is clearly facing you for an extended period of time, then it is probably spying on you!

This is the “old school” way of figuring out if a drone is watching you or not. Now there is new technology to help combat unwanted drone flights.

Radars

Radars are usually used to identify flying objects at a distance before they reach a certain location.

A small drone detecting radar is able to detect drones at a distance. on normal radars, drones can sometimes fly undetected, but radars that are specifically designed to detect drones can be incredibly accurate.

Applications used to turn your phone into a radar has been developed and are actually available for download already! Applications like the Drone Watcher App and the Aveillant can help you spot a drone that might have been nearby you for longer than normal.

Because taking a drone out of the air could lead to legal trouble for you, it is safer for you to identify this drone and call the right people to handle the drone.