Privacy in a World of Ubiquitous Drones

Instructions

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a

drone, is a small aircraft controlled either autonomously
by onboard computers or by remote control. Drones can
carry sensing and recording technologies such as
cameras, and are also equipped with GPS.

Drones are being developed for a variety of applications:

agriculture, journalism, cinematography, package
delivery, search and rescue, mining, firefighting, and law
enforcement. However, since drones can go to many
places that humans cannot, they have the potential to
“see” and record information that may violate privacy
expectations.

We envision technologies to alleviate privacy concerns

around personal and commercial uses of drones. We wish
to understand which technologies would reduce your own
privacy concerns.

Please read the following hypothetical, futuristic scenario

and answer the questions below.

Scenario

We live in an era of ubiquitous drones in which individuals,

companies, and governments continuously operate numerous
unmanned drones in our skies. Drones are everywhere,
performing a variety of tasks such as delivering goods, fighting
crime, and recording significant events.

You are outside, on the balcony of your 20th floor apartment. You
see a drone fly overhead, pause, and move on. You see a camera
on the drone.

Questions

1. A person with a remote control is flying the

drone. You can identify that the drone is owned by
a company, but you are unfamiliar with this
company.
Please rate the extent to which you disagree or agree
with the following statements.
Neither
Strongly Disagre disagree Strongly
Agree
disagree e nor agree
agree
The
drone
has
violated
my
privacy

The
drone is
behavin
g in a
responsi
ble
manner
with
respect
to my
privacy

The
compan
y that
manufac
tured
the
drone is
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy.

The
owner of
the
drone is
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy

The
operator
of the
drone is
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy

The
drone
itself is
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy
The
govern
ment is
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy

I,
myself,
am
responsi
ble for
protecti
ng my
privacy
2. How has your privacy been violated?
Please check all that apply.

I did not expect the drone

to be present in this
location

The drone may have

captured images or video to
be processed by a
computer

The drone may have

captured images or video
that could identify me

The drone may have

captured images or video
that other people may see

The drone may have

 captured images or video to
be stored indefinitely

I am not uncomfortable
with any of these activities
3. As the drone flies overhead, you open an app on
your smartphone and point the phone towards the
drone. In the app, you can see the company that
owns the drone and that it is delivering a package.
Please rate the extent to which you disagree or agree
with the following statements.
Neither
Strongly Disagre disagree Strongly
Agree
disagree e nor agree
agree
The
drone
has
violated
my
privacy

The
drone is
behavin
g in a
responsi
ble
manner
with
respect
to my
privacy

All
drones
should
be
equippe
d with
this
technolo
gy
4. How has your privacy been violated?
Please check all that apply.

I did not expect the drone

to be present in this
location

The drone may have

captured images or video to
be processed by a
computer

The drone may have

captured images or video
that could identify me

The drone may have

captured images or video
that other people may see

The drone may have

captured images or video to
be stored indefinitely

I am not uncomfortable
with any of these activities
5. In what other ways could a drone protect your
privacy, or indicate that it is protecting your
privacy?
[[A delivery drone 20 stories up may not need not to be
taking high quality video. If delivery drones were required
to have only an out of focus camera, or one that could
not take clear video of recognizable objects, it would feel
less intrusive, as long as such legislation was federal and
frequently checked. A delivery drone could check location
via rfid tags to confirm location, rather than relying on a
clear camera image.

Alternatively, if there was a federal law prohibiting the

saving of any data sent back via delivery drone, and this
law was strictly enforced and frequently checked, then I
would feel somewhat safer in my privacy.

Ideally, there should be designated spaces that are okay

for drones of various sorts to be flying and/or restricted
fly areas, enforced, ideally, with remote camera disabling
or scrambling features, and demarcated with signals
identifiable to drones and drone operators.]]

6. What is your age?

18 - 29 years old
30 - 49 years old
50 - 64 years old
65 years and older
I'd rather not say
7. What is your gender?
Female
Male
I'd rather not say