JOURNALS:

University of Pittsburgh: http://tlp.law.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/tlp/article/view/123/126

The New Privacy Battle: How the Expanding Use of Drones Continues to Erode Our Concept of Privacy and Privacy RightsChris Schlag

I. DRONE USE

1. Remote Sensing

Remote sensing has been a primary focus in drone technological development because it has both military and civil applications.38 Remote sensors can detect certain biological, chemical or physical factors in a specific area from extreme distances.39 Specific types of remote sensors include: electromagnetic spectrum sensors, gamma ray sensors, biological sensors, or chemical sensors.40 Utilizing one or multiple methods of sensory detection, remote sensing drones can perceive light changes on the visual spectrum, take pictures using infrared or near infrared cameras, identify airborne microorganisms and biological factors, and detect chemical atmospheric changes.41

2. Aerial Surveillance and Transportation

Aerial surveillance is a principal function of drones in both military and civil operations.42 Therefore, development of aerial surveillance technology is a primary focus.43 Drone surveillance features include technologies such as automated object detection, GPS surveillance, gigapixel cameras,44 and enhanced image resolution.45

3. Weaponry

Drones originally evolved to provide a cost effective military tool that would permit easy elimination of military targets without undue loss of life.50 Developing weaponry capable of achieving this goal has been a crucial focus.51 The most commonly known weaponized military drone is the MQ-1 Predator.52 This drone comes equipped with missiles for both aerial and ground based missions.53

4. Search and Rescue

UAVs recently have become a popular tool for search and rescue operations, as UAVs can be equipped with optical sensors, infrared cameras, synthetic aperture radars, all weather sensors, cameras, laser radar (LADAR), license plate readers, and GPS devices.58 UAVs are uniquely capable of penetrating areas that may be too dangerous for a piloted craft or individuals on foot.59 For this reason, UAVs are ideal for search and rescue operations over the ocean, during extreme atmospheric storms, and in thick wilderness settings.60

C. Domestic Drone Use

The many utilities and relative cost of drones has led federal, state, and local departments to express an interest in using drones domestically.61 Within the past six years, DHS has spent over $250 million purchasing ten surveillance Predators

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specifically equipped with video cameras, infrared cameras, sensors, and radar.62 These drones will be used for patrol operations of U.S. borders and for prevention of international smuggling.63 Other agencies have followed DHS’s lead and considered purchasing drones for agency operations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), DOD, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the United States Secret Service, and EPA have all introduced proposals for drones to be integrated into agency operations.64

Domestic drone use is not limited to the public sphere. Many privately owned companies already use or have expressed interest in obtaining drones for security, loss prevention, and other various purposes.71 For example, Google currently uses drones to obtain map data, build GPS databases, and develop Internet-based street view maps.72 Multiple commercial media agencies have also tried to acquire drones to collect private information, video images, and pictures of celebrities.73 Private detective agencies, lawyers, bail bondsman, insurance companies, and media groups such as National Geographic, have all staked a claim in the development of affordable drone technology.74 This is due to the enhanced imaging capabilities, affordable surveillance options, GPS tracking, and targeting of drones, which would allow for the collection of information useful to these trades in a relatively inconspicuous way.75 While presently, domestic drone use is seen as inconsequential because the technology is relatively unfamiliar and infrequently used, domestic drone use is projected to drastically increase in upcoming years.76 The drone industry is currently a $6 billion industry and is expected to double in the next 10 years.77 In February 2012, Congress enacted the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which specifically calls for the acceleration and integration of drones into United States national airspace by 2015.78 As a result of the FAA’s initiative under the Act and the significant push from federal and state agencies to use drones domestically, the FAA is expected to approve an additional 30,000 licenses for domestic drone operation by 2020.79

UNSW Law Journal: http://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/g2_butler.pdf

THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF THE DRONES: AN AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY LAW PERSPECTIVE DES BUTLER

The broad range of potential civil and commercial applications includes:11 ● • Remote sensing including pipeline and power line monitoring, volcanic

sensing, mapping,12 meteorology, and geological, agricultural, vegetation13 and wildlife14 surveying;

● • Disaster response such as flood and geological disaster monitoring;15 ● • Surveillance for law enforcement, traffic monitoring,16 coastal/maritime

patrol and border patrol;17 ● • Search and rescue of individuals lost or stranded on land or at sea;18 •

Transport of food, medicine and other cargoes;19 ● • Communications relay of the internet and mobile phone service;20

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● • Delivery for diverse purposes such as fire-fighting and crop dusting; • Entertainment including cinematography and advertising; and

● • Broadcasting by television and radio organisations.21 This list is not exhaustive. For example, UAVs may also be used for purely recreational purposes. However, the list serves to highlight some important points. UAVs may be used in a civilian sphere by government agencies, corporations or individuals. For example, a government department may use a UAV in lieu of more costly fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters to monitor areas in flood or drought, as well as to detect and/or fight bushfires or in police tactical operations. Television and radio stations may use UAVs in lieu of helicopters for traffic reports and other reporting purposes, and film and advertising companies may use UAVs for filming aerial shots for their productions. By contrast, individuals may use UAVs simply for recreational purposes – model aircraft flying in a local park or reserve is not an uncommon sight.

While a UAV may be intentionally deployed on one of the above applications, it may also in the course of that deployment unintentionally capture images of individuals involved in activities that they would prefer not to be seen by others, whether legal (but embarrassing) or illegal. Thus, for example, a UAV scanning bushland for a lost bushwalker, monitoring crops or filming landscapes for a television or movie production might inadvertently capture images of a couple having sexual relations or someone urinating amongst the foliage. Alternatively, it might capture images of a person or persons involved in the cultivation of illegal drugs. By the same token, a UAV used for recreational purposes might include a person seeking to satisfy their voyeuristic urges such as the posited adolescent intentionally spying on someone sunbathing in his or her backyard or on a public beach. Such accidental or deliberate invasions of privacy may raise difficult questions in terms of current Australian privacy laws, and provide a useful setting for exploring the nuances and inconsistencies in the law, and to identify those areas that may be in need of reform

Ohio State Law Journal: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/students/groups/oslj/files/2013/12/8-Olivito.pdf

Beyond the Fourth Amendment: Limiting Drone Surveillance Through the Constitutional Right to Informational Privacy JONATHAN OLIVITO

Current and Potential Drone Applications Outside of the military context,61 government agencies currently utilize drones in a wide variety of applications. The Customs and Border Protection agency has operated drones around the borders since 2005.62 Customs and Border Protection drones uncover intelligence on illegal border crossings and major drug trafficking operations.63 Likewise, the Coast Guard hopes to use drones “to reconnoiter large maritime areas.”64 The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency have utilized drones within the United States; the Customs and Border Protection agency has even made its drones available to local police departments for domestic law enforcement operations.65 On a local scale, numerous municipal police departments have obtained permission from the FAA to use drones.66 These drones have been used to help with security at sporting

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events, surveil private property, and assist with crime prevention.67 In a more academic context, NASA and NOAA have used drones for scientific research and environmental monitoring.68 All of these current applications have attracted considerable interest in future career opportunities related to drone technology.

Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/36_2_457_Villasenor.pdf

OBSERVATIONS FROM ABOVE: UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND PRIVACY JOHN VILLASENOR

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Today

The UAS industry today is large, global, and rapidly growing. According to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the largest international association for unmanned systems, there are now over 400 active manufacturers of UAS globally, including 150 in the United States.38 Other countries with significant UAS development include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, and the United Kingdom.39 The Teal Group, an aerospace and defense consultancy based in Virginia, predicts that global annual UAS spending will rise from an estimated $6.6 billion in 2012 to over $11 billion over the next decade, corresponding to a total ten‐ year expenditure of nearly $90 billion.40 Even as overall spending is increasing, per‐unit costs for the smaller platforms are dropping. Large military surveillance platforms such as the Global Hawk can cost many tens of mil‐ lions of dollars or more to purchase41 and require large teams of highly trained people using specialized equipment to fly.42 However, there are increasing numbers of highly capable commercially available small UAS that can be purchased for under $1000. It is only a matter of time—and probably not much time—before GPS and video‐equipped UAS drop below $100, and then below $10.

UAS can be used in law enforcement, search and rescue, sur‐ veying, scientific research, and many other civilian applications. Although many people equate the prospect of law enforcement use of UAS with surveillance, in practice this may be the excep‐ tion rather than the rule. In this respect, the experience of the Mesa County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office is instructive. Mesa County has one of the only current FAA Certificates of Authori‐ zation for operational (as opposed to training) use of UAS.43 The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has (as of February 2013) flown approximately 40 missions since 2011, and has never used them to perform surveillance.44 Instead, typical operations have been for obtaining after‐the‐fact crime scene images, search and res‐ cue, and providing imagery for structure fire suppression and arson investigations. Ben Miller, the Unmanned Aircraft Pro‐ gram Manager in Mesa County, puts the per‐hour operating cost of Mesa County’s UAS at $25;45 a manned helicopter, by con‐ trast, costs hundreds of dollars per hour to operate. The dra‐ matically lower

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operating cost for unmanned aircraft provides a powerful economic incentive for their adoption. In addition, they can be used in circumstances where a manned helicopter would have been too dangerous or disruptive.

In Australia, where certain commercial operations using small unmanned aircraft have been permitted for over ten years,46 applications have included mining surveys and trans‐ portation of equipment to drilling rigs.47 In Japan, agricultural spraying is often performed using small unmanned helicop‐ ters.48 In the United States, NASA researchers have used UAS for studying Hawaiian volcanoes.49 UAS are also ideal plat‐ forms for identifying wildfire hotspots without putting a hu‐ man pilot at risk.50

STATISTICS:Business Insider Australia: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-market-for-commercial-drones-2014-2

COMMERCIAL DRONES: Assessing The Potential For A New Drone-Powered Economy

MARCELO BALLVE FEB 4 2014

We estimate that 12% of an estimated $US98 billion in cumulative global spending on aerial drones over the next decade will be for commercial purposes.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/uav-or-commercial-drone-market-

forecast-2015-2

Most growth in the drone industry is on the commercial/civilian side, as the shift

away from the military market gains momentum. The market for commercial/civilian

drones will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% between 2015

and 2020, compared with 5% growth on the military side.

Fortune: http://fortune.com/2013/03/12/what-is-the-drone-industry-really-worth/What is the drone industry really worth? Clay Dillow MARCH 12, 2013

The drones are coming, according to the world’s largest unmanned systems industry organization. And they are likely to bring high-tech jobs, millions in tax revenues, and tens of billions in economic impact with them. A report released today by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) forecasts that if the Federal Aviation Administration meets its 2015 deadline for integrating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national civilian airspace, the total domestic economic impact will reach more than $82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025 — creating more than 100,000 high-paying jobs in the process.

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The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/10/08/america-cant-lead-the-world-in-innovation-if-the-faa-keeps-dragging-its-feet-on-drone-rules/

America can’t lead the world in innovation if the FAA keeps dragging its feet on drone rules

Larry Downes October 8, 2014

The FAA conservatively estimates that, within a decade, private drones will constitute a $90 billion industry. Already, according to the Consumer Electronic Association, 2014 sales of UAVs are forecast at $84 million and 250,000 units. By 2018, CEA predicts consumer drone sales will approach $300 million and about a million units.

Commercial Drone Markets - 2015 Trends and Outlook

http://www.slideshare.net/ColinSnow/susbe2015-colin-snow

DATA FOX: http://www.datafox.co/blog/2014/04/fly-the-automated-skies-

drones-and-the-rise-of-the-civilian-uav-sector/

Fly the Automated Skies: Drones and the Rise of the Civilian UAV Sector

UAV: Market Size & Share

One report suggests that the market for military applications of UAVs is

expected to grow from $7.28bn in 2012 to $10.7bn by 2017, at an estimated

compound annual growth rate of 8% (although by examining the leading firms in

DataFox we’ve found these speculations to be conservative).

Within this area, the demand for High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs,

some of which employ solar power to extend their range, is likely to increase the

fastest, at a projected CAGR of 9% to reach $1.3bn by 2016. Northrop Grumman

(NOC) and Aerovironment (AVAV) are leading producers of HALEs that could benefit

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from the growth in this market. At present, General Atomic Aeronautical Systems, a

privately owned San Diego firm, is the overall market leader with an 18.8% share.

The US is currently the largest geographical market, representing 60% of

total spending, with Israel also developing into a leading producer and consumer

of military UAVs.

The Rise of the Civilian UAV Sector

Potentially more interesting is the projected growth in the civilian UAV sector. The

Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) estimates that the

market for UAVs in 2013 stood at $11.3bn, and has the potential to grow

to over $140bn within the next 10 years subject to regulatory approvals. In this

space, Insitu, a wholly owned subsidiary of defense and aviation giant Boeing (BOE),

is developing a strong offering in the fields of environmental and infrastructural

monitoring, public safety and communications.

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