A technoethical review of commercial drone use in the context of governance, ethics, and privacy

Abstract

Surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, were traditionally used by militaries in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in their surveillance operations in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In the last five years, the extension of drone use into commercial applications has grown exponentially apart from military and recreational domains. The growth in domestic use has generated public concern and debate mainly surrounding safety and privacy issues. Guided by a technoethical lens (the study of technology’s impact on ethics), a systematic review of commercial drone literature from 2010 to 2015 was conducted to explore social, governance, privacy, and ethical aspects of commercial drone use. Drawing on research, magazine, and newspaper articles, the study identifies the following key areas of social and ethical concern connected with commercial drones: safety, ethics and morals, legality, privacy, air space, informational integrity, humans versus machines, and commercial concerns. The study contributes to technology studies and media ethics research by providing insights into the state of public knowledge concerning commercial drones from an ethical perspective. The outcome of the technoethical review suggests that, although commercial drone use can improve lifestyle and increase efficiency, there is a need to invest more attention to possible negative and unknown consequences to facilitate the ethical use of commercial drones.