Hi,

There has been endless speculation lately about drones and privacy, but...

I met with a roof contractor the other day. He didn't go up on my roof to measure it. No need to -- he had aerial photos that were good enough to figure the size. He said that his firm gets them from a company that specializes in such things.

He claimed that they could actually do siding estimates from the newer photos.

I have seen planes flying over with a pod that had a flashing light on it, and I always wondered if it was a camera. I thought that it was probably for Google maps or whatever.

But, I guess that the only advantage that drones will bring to the party is real time video rather than static photos -- and for all I know, the video feed is already available from the same company.

I just thought it was interesting,

hj

 

And all this time we thought they were putting fluoride in the water to prevent tooth decay. It creates a better image for the drone to detect...

 

Some of those same gov't satellite photos are used by county property tax assessors to catch unauthorized or reported additions/improvements to homes. If I understand the procedure such images are obtained by paying for them, mostly open only to government officials or agencies.

They'll occasionally compare an exiting footprint of an address with one of an earlier date---anything new or unexplained is investigated by an on-the-ground agent.

Not sure the frequency of when/how these new images are obtained but the process does seem to catch more than a few room additions etc not reported. Not sure if or how they address any code violations but I'm sure they have a way to collect the extra taxes believed to be due.

 

Read a while back, that in Greece, swimming pools are taxed heavily. The figures in Athens showed there were 300 swimming pools reported. The drone or satellite pics showed several thousand... Also a cottage industry is there for overhead camo, to hide things because of that.

Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup

 

Need a cottage industry for a homeowner grade Surface to Air missile.