Consumer privacy questions briefly took center stage at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing about drones, as Democratic Sen. Ed Markey hammered away at the idea that the increasingly-common devices could be used by corporations to collect sensitive data:
"And what happens if there's drones that are gathering through facial recognition kind of who's shopping on Main Street and selling that to advertisers. Are there any protections? What if some commercial entities are gathering information about kids playing in the back yard, and then using it for nefarious purposes?"
The backstory: Markey's a privacy hawk who backs a new bill that would have the FAA get information from drone users about their data collection practices before granting them a license. Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune said he hadn't yet had a chance to review the bill but indicated the issue was on his radar.
