Apple Confirms It Is Using Drones to Improve Apple Maps, Says It Will Respect Privacy

Apple has confirmed its intention to use unmanned aerial vehicles or Drone to collect detailed information and to improve the highly objected Apple map service. This development comes just after the US Department of Transportation announced Wednesday the approval of drone licenses for 10 companies in the North American country, including Apple. Other winners of the agreement include Uber Travel Services Company, Intel Microprocessor Manufacturer, FedEx Delivery Company and others. Interestingly, the projects of the world's largest unarmed seller, DJI and Amazon, were rejected during the cycle with a total of 149 bids.

The Cupertino giant said he plans to use the test program as an opportunity to upgrade Apple Maps after a few outages in the past. Aerial footage is saved by Apple as the next hope for a ship that sinks for its competitor Google Maps. This development comes several months after a report suggested that Apple is actively trying to use drones for aerial mapping in Apple Maps. This is clearly a step towards confrontation with its ultra-popular competitor: Google Maps.

"Apple is committed to protecting people's privacy, including processing that data to erase faces and disks before publishing," the technology giant told Reuters in response to questions about using drones for Apple Maps. The company also announced it would use the North Carolina Drone Testing Program to gather information to improve Apple Maps.

US Transport Secretary Elaine Chao said that dozens of unapproved projects could be approved in the coming months, subject to certain exceptions or compliance with existing regulations. She also did not rule out that the Amazon project was approved under a rigorous process.