Drone on, privacy out

Technology is opening up new opportunities for mischief and those bent upon it are not missing a trick.
Take the drone; that now ubiquitous radio-controlled model flying machine. It's cheap, no licence is needed and it's strong enough to carry an attached camera ... or whatever. It's getting to a stage where legislation might have to be passed to control the drones or license the users.
Lately they have been used to smuggle contraband into prisons and carry illegal things across borders, as well as provide the military with secrets once sourced by spies with cameras.
Of course spy work can extend to the domestic kind and a drone can be a handy way of checking out the neighbours. Not only is it an intrusion into the space of people who thought they had privacy but it could be a handy way for thieves to go window shopping before each job. While photogrammetrists no longer have to hire aircraft to make aerial maps, divorce lawyers also now have a handy new tool.
I'm sure the internet is already receiving naughty photos of nude sunbathers, completely unaware they were being snooped upon, and the paparazzi can leave the long lenses at home while they zoom in for a royal close-up from above.
With high definition photograph and video technology working in tandem with the remote-controlled "toys" there's a world of devilment waiting to be embarked upon and very few legal boundaries.
Harmless toys or malicious tools? Depends on your perspective.
I do not regard supermarket checkout operators as dim; but their employers obviously do. I have looked older than 18 for most of my life and you'd have to be short sighted indeed to regard me as under age (but thanks for the compliment). But the moment I appear at a checkout counter with a bottle containing alcohol, everything stops until someone "qualified" leaves what they are doing and comes over to make an age judgment. Apparently, to become a supervisor you have to take a course, after which you can immediately ascertain if someone is over 18.
Here's an idea; if a customer's age is in question, by all means call upon someone who will take responsibility. Alternatively, let the checkout operator ask for age confirmation. But when someone is so obviously over 18 (in my case, well over) give the checkout operator credit for some intelligence and let them process the purchase. The store has given them the responsibility of balancing their till after a hectic day's trading but will not recognise their ability to judge whether someone is 40 years over the age at which they can buy alcohol. And don't just tell me "it's store policy". Policy can be changed. A simple reprogramming of the till is not an expensive exercise.
A little common sense will keep the queues moving and we won't feel like we've caused a problem every time we buy a bottle of wine.
According to a recent survey, people who take recent surveys seriously need to get a new hobby.
Surveys are being conducted every day for a variety of reasons, mostly commercial. By posing a few questions to a randomly selected group of people, marketing analysts can determine their next move and aim their advertising at the right target.
It's bollocks, of course, and it's all to do with timing.
Survey people ring at inopportune times, asking stupid questions of people who just want to get off the phone. Ask yourself, how accurate or truthful will their answers be? Or whoever answers the phone is so lonely that even an obnoxious interviewer is a welcome distraction. Ask yourself the same question. So why would these university graduate marketing whiz kids give such surveys any credibility? A lot of money must be at stake and the advertiser needs to know how to spend the client's money prudently and efficiently. If they are trying to ascertain a target audience, the survey results have to be accurate or time and money is going to be wasted on bad information.
I don't believe there is an answer unless we stop relying on dodgy surveys and find a new way to determine demographics. At least it will stop those annoying phone calls at meal times and I won't have to think up yet another reason I can't stay and chat.
Others choose the same time to invade your privacy. Your bank will ring, telling you it's a courtesy call. It's not, of course; it's someone on commission determined to sell you something you don't need, like insurance. Banks have targets. They are not there to represent your financial interests at all; they are there solely to harvest as much cash as they can, and if that means selling you overpriced rubbish, then that's what they'll do.
Oddly enough, it was Henry Ford who said, "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business".