Australian Police Fly Drones Monitoring How People Obey Anti COVID19 Measures

Australian Police Fly Drones Monitoring How People Obey Anti COVID19 Measures
Short Title	Uastralian Police Use Drones to Find People Not Wearing Masks
Location	Australia
Date	August 2020
Solove Harm	Surveillance
Information	Physical Characteristics, Behavioral, Public Life
Threat Actors	Law Enforcement
Individuals
Affected	People in Victoria
High Risk Groups
Tangible Harms	Financial Cost

Police in Victoria, Australia are launching their aerial arsenal as part of a crackdown on COVID19 rule breakers. Drones are used to find people not wearing masks, and cars too far from home.

Description

Police in Victoria, Australia, are sending up drones to track how people are obeying measures against COVID19. High powered drones are used to find people not wearing masks. They also deputed to discover cars - that are too far from home - that have gone beyond five kilometers from home, in contravention of current laws. When monitoring people is an example of be Surveillance

The lockdown carries with it fines of up to AU$20,000. Failing to wear a mask will cost you AU$200.

Breakdown

Threat: Law enforcement watching people with drones
At-Risk group: people in public
Harm: Surveillance
Secondary Consequences: Financial- AU$200 fine for those not wearing a mask

Decisional Interference could be at play here as well. The law is interfering with people's decisions on whether to wear a mask or not. Of course, there is a public health benefit which may override the autonomy interests of the individual here. However, since the focus of the ZDnet article is on the drones, not the law, this potential harm has not been included.