Or just its payload? There have been radio controlled hobby aircraft around for years, but they were noisy, had a short range, and required great skill on the part of their pilots. But in principle, drones don't really sound like a new technology, just a great improvement over an old one.

What scares me about these new, quiet, partially autonomous camera- and GPS-equipped drones is not that they are a threat to our privacy, but that they are potential terrorist weapons. They can be armed with explosives or poisons. Its only a matter of time before we see our first assassination or sabotage by drone. The last thing we should be worried about is them taking nudie pictures of us through a skylight.