TRU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 136: Resultaterne af undersøgelser vedrørende befolkningens viden om og holdning til brugen af droner i offentlige områder og beboelsesområder, fra transport-, bygnings- og boligministeren

Transport-, Bygnings- og Boligudvalget 2017-18
TRU Alm.del Bilag 136
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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK

USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

DECEMBER 2017

AALBORG UNIVERSITY

Public reactions to

drone use in residential

and public areas

–1–

UNIVERSITY OF

SOUTHERN DENMARK

TRU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 136: Resultaterne af undersøgelser vedrørende befolkningens viden om og holdning til brugen af droner i offentlige områder og beboelsesområder, fra transport-, bygnings- og boligministeren

PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

COLOPHON

Public reactions to drone use in residential and public areas

AUTHORED BY:

Domen Bajde, University of Southern Denmark

Niklas Woermann, University of Southern Denmark

Maja Hojer Bruun, Aalborg University

Rasmus Gahrn-Andersen, University of Southern Denmark

Jannek K. Sommer, University of Southern Denmark

Mikkel Nøjgaard, University of Southern Denmark

Sofie H. Christensen, University of Southern Denmark

Heiko Kirschner, University of Southern Denmark

Rune Hagel Skaarup Jensen, Aalborg University

Jan Hendrik Bucher, University of Southern Denmark

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

SUMMARY OF MAIN RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Study 1: Experiments in public settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Study 2: Interviews in residential settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

FINDINGS OF STUDY 1 (EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC SETTINGS) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reactions to fly-by vs. hovering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Making sense of a drone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Participants’ perception of altitude and distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The perception of safety distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FINDINGS OF STUDY 2 (RESIDENTIAL SETTING) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Informational privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Spatial privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Uncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Views on recreational use of micro drones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

INTRODUCTION

The public will play a vital role in shaping the future of the drone sector. The sector’s

fate is tied to factors such as the capacity to serve the public and convince it that dro-

nes can benefit society, the ability to ensure that drones are used in a safe and con-

siderate manner, and the readiness and effectiveness of the sector to address public

concerns, such as safety and privacy. This report addresses public reactions to drones

in residential and public settings and the concerns they raised. We present the results

of two studies conducted as part of a collaborative project between the University of

Southern Denmark (SDU), Aalborg University (AAU) and the Danish Transport, Con-

struction and Housing Authority. The report builds upon and supplements the research

conducted in the initial phase of the project (Bajde et al. 2017).

The research questions were formulated as follows:

• How do people respond to the presence of drones in public areas? How are these re-

sponses impacted by the altitude at which the drone is flying and other factors, such

as the size of the drone and the nature of its use?

• How do people respond to the presence of drones in the vicinity of their homes? How

are these responses impacted by the altitude at which the drone is flying and other

factors, such as the size of the drone and the nature of its use?

• Does the presence of drones provoke privacy concerns? If so, what kind of privacy

concerns and under what conditions?

We pose these questions to provide insights for policy makers and businesses who are

interested in designing regulations and drone solutions that are attentive to public

concerns. The report provides an overview of the work process and the main results of

two studies, conducted by two independent research teams. The first study looks at

reactions to drones in public areas, while the second study investigates reactions to

drones in people’s private home settings.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

SUMMARY OF MAIN RESULTS

Our study of reactions to the presence of drones in public settings shows a dependency

on the perceived purpose and legitimacy of the drone, which is mediated by the percei-

ved distance and duration of the drone’s presence. A drone that flies by sufficiently far

away and has a clear and legitimate purpose does not cause people to interrupt their

activities, and is not seen as problematic. However, a drone that lingers in public areas,

comes too close to bystanders is disruptive or intrusive if its purpose and legitimacy

is unclear. People might infer that they are being filmed or followed, or feel unsafe or

bothered. When seeing a drone, bystanders therefore try to ascertain its purpose and

legitimacy by either trying to interpret its flight pattern, lights, or design; or by looking

for a pilot to hold accountable.

Figure 1:

Determinants of reactions to drones in public settings

PERCEIVED

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

UNCLEAR PURPOSE

UNCERTAIN LEGITIMACY

DISTURBANCE & UNCERTAINTY

Crucially, by observing a drone from the ground, it is hard for members of the public to

discern how high a drone is flying, what it is doing, and who is responsible for it. Uncer-

tainty and disturbance occur if purpose and legitimacy of drones are not easily identi-

fiable. Current drone designs offer little indication of the responsible entity (e.g. public

authorities, commercial or private users), the mission or direction of the flight (e.g.

bystanders cannot tell the meaning of red and blue lights on the drone), and whether

or not current regulations are being followed (e.g. even if bystanders know the permit-

ted flight level, they cannot estimate the altitude that a drone is flying at).

We conclude in particular that low-flying drones often interrupt social activities, and

that current designs and regulations make it difficult to assess purpose and legitimacy,

causing uncertainty and disturbance.

–5–

PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

Our study of reactions to drones in residential settings shows that public concerns

regarding privacy cannot be reduced to the problem of unauthorised capture of per-

sonal information or images (i.e., violation of

informational privacy).

Instead, privacy

concerns are better seen through the prism of the

privacy triangle

comprising three

dimensions: informational privacy, spatial privacy and uncertainty. Our data stresses

the importance of spatial privacy, which refers to the protection of one’s private space

from uninvited intrusions and threats. In the case of drones, violations of spatial priva-

cy relate to feeling threatened, or intruded upon by the noise and physical presence of

the drone in private space. Problems of spatial privacy become particularly acute when

large drones overfly private gardens or houses at lower altitudes (e.g., 25 metres).

Our study shows that the noise and visual design of the drone play an important role

in shaping the public’s experiences of intrusion, thus providing insight into how drone

designers and regulators can mitigate problems related to spatial privacy.

Figure 2:

Privacy triangle

NOT KNOWING

(uncertainty)

INTRUDED

UPON

(Spatial privacy)

OBSERVED

(Informational privacy)

Informational privacy and spatial privacy are significantly impacted by the third ele-

ment of the privacy tringle, uncertainty – the public’s inability to understand what is

going on in the vicinity of their home. We find that the inability to obtain information,

such as information about who is operating a drone and for what purpose it is being

flown over their house, significantly diminishes people’s sense of privacy in both public

and private residential settings. This problem can be mitigated by creating identifica-

tion systems for drones that could be used by citizens to access real-time information

about specific cases of drone use, as well as by improved communication with the pub-

lic about the costs and benefits of drone use.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

Finally, we find that the size and purpose of the drone plays an important role in sha-

ping public reactions. The problems of spatial privacy and uncertainty are not as acute

when it comes to recreational use of smaller drones. Participants in the study felt that

people should have the right to play with drones in their own gardens and on their own

property, as long as they do not film, photograph or otherwise observe or monitor ne-

ighbours. Reactions to recreational use of small drones in public space, such as public

parks and playgrounds, were less univocal, indicating the need for further research and

careful consideration of how this aspect of drone use is regulated and communicated

to the public.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY

The research project was comprised of two studies, conducted by two independent

teams. One team (Bajde, Bruun, Sommer, Nøjgaard, Christensen and Jensen) explo-

red public concerns with drone use in residential areas through interviews with parti-

cipants exposed to drones in the context of their homes and gardens. Another team

(Woermann, Gahrn-Andersen, Kirschner and Bucher) investigated people’s reactions to

drone use in public areas via field experiments in public settings through video analysis

and post-experiment interviews.

STUDY 1: EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC SETTINGS

The study design was based on a review of the state-of-the-art of human-drone and

human-robot interaction, as well as video analysis of footage capturing naturally

occurring encounters with drones available on social media platforms. The results led

to a reflexive experimental design: participants were given tasks such as solving an

IQ test or playing a game, and then drones were flown unannounced into their vicini-

ty. This forced participants to make sense of the drone and react in ways they deem

appropriate. Building on the tradition of ethnomethodological experiments (Garfinkel

1967), studies in human-machine interaction (Suchman 1987), and workplace studi-

es (Hindmarsh et al. 2000), sensemaking and reactions were captured on video from

several angles and analysed in conjunction with post-experiment focus group intervie-

ws. This allows participants’ stated attitude towards drones to be contrasted with their

in-situ behaviour.

The experiments were conducted in group and solo settings with either a commerci-

al drone (category 2; DJI Matrice 600) or a toy drone (below 250 g; Silverlit Spy drone

II, and Harbok Nano). To understand reactions to different altitudes, the category 1B

drone conducted an unannounced fly-by at 75, 50, and 20 metres, before hovering over

the participants.

In the case of the

75 m

toy drone, the pilot

was visible in addi-

50 m

tion to the drone,

and walked nearby

20 m

the participants.

This comparative

design allowed the

effect of the pilot

being in or out of

plain sight to be

established.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

All experiments were conducted at the University of Southern Denmark in a recreatio-

nal setting. After the experiments, 16 focus group interviews with the participants were

conducted (72 participants in total). The experiments lasted between 12 and 20 mi-

nutes and produced over 9 hours of video footage in total. Focus groups lasted between

25 and 30 minutes and were transcribed verbatim (7 hours of recordings and approx.

210 pages of transcript in total). The videos and transcripts were triangulated as refle-

xive depending data (Flick 2009).

Pilot

Drone

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

In total, 72 individuals participated in the study. Table 1 shows the sample according

to average age and gender. Participants were recruited through bulletin boards, soci-

al media and word-of-mouth among students at the University of Southern Denmark

from all faculties and levels who did not have expert knowledge of drones. Participants

received financial compensation.

Pre-screening guaranteed a diverse sample and ensured that all safety regulations

could be accounted for. As is customary for reflexive experimental designs, the sample

is not intended to be representative with regard to individual socio-demographic cha-

racteristics, but instead allows for ecological validity (Cicourel 1982) by focusing on a

social group (local university students) while ensuring diversity within the sample of

interactional units (Denzin 1969), for example by including different nationalities, gen-

ders, and social backgrounds.

Table 1:

Description of participants in Study 1

Participants (Total)

Average Age

23.56

Number of

participants

Gender

Female

Male

Danish

Not Danish

Share of

participants (%)

47.2

52.8

44.4

55.6

Nationality

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

STUDY 2: INTERVIEWS IN RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS

The residential setting interviews were conducted in two stages. In the first stage par-

ticipants were interviewed in their homes to obtain a base understanding of their level

of knowledge about drones, their attitudes toward drones and their personal views

on privacy. Some days after the initial interview the participants were visited again to

conduct a drone test in their private gardens (all participants lived in attached or deta-

ched houses with gardens) and a second interview aimed at obtaining their reactions

to the drones and reflections on the presence of drones in the vicinity of their homes.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

75 m

50 m

25 m

The drone overflying par-

ticipants’ gardens was a

Matrice 600 at the altitu-

des of 25m, 50m and 75m.

The participants were

also shown a smaller toy

drone (Silverlit Spy drone

II; below 250g), and asked

to share their views on

recreational drone use in

the vicinity of their homes

and other places, such as

public areas and parks.

In total, 16 participants who were not experts in drones, were recruited through per-

sonal networks (see Table 1). Although not representative of the Danish population,

the sample includes significant diversity across gender (50% of the participants are

female/male), age (24-83, average 41), residential areas (6 locations spread across

larger-city central and suburban areas, as well as village settings), and occupation.

Table 2:

Description of participants in study

Participant

Jane

Michael

Tina

Jesper

Eva

Anton

Erik

Emma

Peter

Mette

Minh

Hans

Dennis

Tine

Ellen

Freja

Gender

Age

Type of residence

Attached house with shared garden in urban centre

Attached house with private garden in urban centre

Detached house with private garden in suburban area

Detached house with private garden in a village

Detached house with private garden in suburban area

Detached house with private garden in a village

Detached house with private garden in suburban area

Attached house with private garden in suburban area

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed in full. The names and addresses

were anonymised to protect the privacy of the participants. The transcriptions were

analysed by reducing the data into shorter summaries, based on which patterns were

identified and tested across the data set.

FINDINGS OF STUDY 1 (EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC SETTINGS)

The field experiments produced great homogeneity in results, despite variation in the

types of drones used, types of public settings, and participants conducting either

social activities (such as playing different games or sports) or focused activities (such

as answering an IQ test) either alone or in groups. Further, both pre-reflexive reactions

(such as briefly glancing at a drone while continuing the current activity) that were

captured through video analysis, and participants’ explicit reflections in post-experi-

ment interviews confirm the same general pattern.

REACTIONS TO FLY-BY VS. HOVERING

Reactions to the unannounced presence of drones can be divided into two categories:

First, as drones fly by at a certain distance, participants react to the noise and esta-

blish the distant presence of the drone by briefly glancing up. Participants engaged

in an activity capturing their attention will not react outwardly other than this short

moment of visually attending to the drone. After the drone has been established as

a background feature of the situation in that participants consider it too far away to

require further attention, participants no longer react outwardly to the drone even if it

flies by a second time. Reflecting upon their behaviour, participants explain that they

thought the drone had “nothing to do with me” or their current activity, and given its

distance and short presence, was not considered intrusive.

Second, the reaction pattern changes markedly once a drone flies at a distance that

participants consider “close to me” (see below for further discussion) – now the presen-

ce of the drone requires attention and invokes a range of reactions. Participants start

looking at the drone for longer periods and visibly alter their bodily posture so that their

observing the drone becomes apparent for others in their group. This, in turn, will cause

other group members to likewise look at the drone. Participants frequently express a

negative stance towards the drone by showing negative facial expressions, uttering ne-

gative emotions, and expressing bewilderment, curiosity, or disturbance. If interacting

in a group, participants start to communicate about the drone, sharing their negative

experience and eventually engaging in sensemaking regarding the possible purpose

and legitimacy of the drone.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

MAKING SENSE OF A DRONE

A drone that lingers in public areas and comes too close to bystanders is disruptive or

intrusive because it requires attention and sensemaking. Participants speculate that

they are being filmed or followed, or feel unsafe or bothered.

When seeing a drone, bystanders try to ascertain its purpose and legitimacy by either

trying to interpret its flight pattern, lights, or design. Furthermore, most participants

begin looking around in order to identify the pilot of the drone in order to hold them

accountable. In several tests, we intentionally hid the pilot from view. This caused par-

ticipants to either consider other members of the research team as the pilots, or cau-

sed repeated visual searching for a pilot in the vicinity. In no case did the participants

seem content with what they could understand from just looking at the drone itself. In

the post-experiment interviews, participants univocally explained that it is decisive for

them to know who is flying the drone, or who is responsible for it. For example, parti-

cipants would trust a fireman to fly the drone safely, and would accept drones prac-

tically regardless of where and how they fly if they knew that they were being used to

help saving lives. In contrast, if they consider a drone to be piloted by an untrustworthy

person, the size and flight pattern of the drone does not make much of a difference:

they are univocally rejected.

Crucially, by observing a drone from the ground, it is hard for participants to under-

stand how high a drone is flying, what it is doing, and who is responsible for it. The

experiments unexpectedly confronted participants with drones and offered little indi-

cation of the responsible entity (e.g. public authorities, commercial or private users).

Only after participants concluded that the drones where probably a part of the experi-

ments, did they pay less attention and become more comfortable with the drone. In a

naturally occurring situation where members of the public would be entirely unable to

ascertain the purpose and legitimacy of a drone, more pronounced feelings of insecuri-

ty and stronger reactions seem probable.

The drone designs used offered participants little opportunity to understand the purpo-

se or direction of flight of the drone. For example, participants could not tell the mea-

ning of red and blue lights on the drone, or were surprised by the hovering and sudden

changes of direction. Additionally, participants could not estimate whether or not

current regulations were being followed by the drone and its pilot. However, in line with

sociological research, participants expressed that checking if a pilot follows the rules

and laws is an important strategy to assess the trustworthiness of the drone, and the

safety of the situation more generally (Goffman 1963). For example, if even relatively

minor formal or informal rules of normal behaviour in public are being visibly ignored

by someone, bystanders will keep their distance and monitor that person. However,

with regard to a drone, people cannot asses if the drone is behaving like a ‘good citizen’

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

or not, because they neither know the rules nor are able to tell if the rules are being

followed. This is particularly true with regard to rules about minimum flight altitude.

PARTICIPANTS’ PERCEPTION OF ALTITUDE AND DISTANCE

Participants were generally unable to estimate the drone’s flying height. Indeed, they

failed to notice that the drone was flown at three different altitudes during each expe-

riment (i.e. 75 metres, 50 metres and 20 metres). While some participants experienced

the changing altitudes during the various fly-bys, others did not notice any change.

However, all participants noticed when the drone began to descend directly above

them:

“I felt it like above me a lot of the time, I know it was like flying around but I

think it like stopped, right?” (Vera, 24)

Further, participants generally reported on the drone’s altitude in relative terms, by

using phrases such as “closer to” and “further away from”:

“I was not really paying attention to the drone; only when its sound increa-

sed if it got closer for some reason. Then I looked up. But I haven’t been pay-

ing attention to where it was flying or anything…” (Birgit, 23)

“Especially the noise [was distracting]. Because even though [the drone] was

far away, you could still hear it like it was close, or near.” (Line, 20)

As these quotes reflect, there was a general tendency to infer the drone’s altitude and

distance based on the noise level. In the follow-up interviews, participants were asked

to use the metric system to estimate the drone’s varying altitudes. Given the absence

of measurement tools and altitude/distance markings, however, their estimations were

incorrect. They generally had the impression that the low-flying drone was much lower,

providing estimates as little as five metres when in fact the drone was flying at 25 me-

tres:

“I didn’t pay attention, but she (i.e. another participant) said like 20 metres

[…] so 15 [meters up] maybe? I think it should be higher because you never

know if the person faint or something and the drone is like… yeah, I guess

higher…“ (Vera, 24)

Thus, participants were unable to estimate the drone’s altitude. Nevertheless, they

generally emphasised that drones should not fly “too close” to them if they are to feel

safe in their presence. We conclude that perceptions of safety and intrusiveness of

drones are not a linear function of the absolute flight level or distance, but instead de-

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

pend on a) the noise level and b) the perceived appropriateness of the drone given the

current situation. In other words, whether or not a drone is considered as “flying too

close to me” depends on the setting (e.g. public vs. private space, recreational or work

environment, etc.) and whether the drone fits this setting. The closer the drone flies to

them, the more participants feel the need to trust the drone pilot not to put them in

danger or do something reckless. Therefore, participants become more active in try-

ing to ascertain the legitimacy of the flight and the trustworthiness of the pilot as the

drone comes closer.

“For me it was the same. When it was very close, it was very distracting. But

when it was further away, then it was not that bad.” (Ronny, 23)

“When they [i.e. drones] come near me, I have this thing that they will bump

into me so I have to, you know, just kind of take a look. So, I was kind of

distracted, because the thing is when it was far away, it took me a while to

understand where the noise came from, like what it was about.” (Liza, 23)

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

THE PERCEPTION OF SAFETY DISTANCE

Generally, there was little consent amongst participants regarding the optimal safe-

ty distance for a bystander from a drone. Thus, their opinions varied as the following

passage shows:

Lisa, 29: “[The small drone] won’t bother me if it is far away from me. Or,

not far-far, but if is it in the area I am in.”

Interviewer: “So how far is far? Like how would you say?”

Linda, 22: “Eh… maybe… three meters, four metres, away from me.”

Fernando, 25: “Well, I would say more. Like, eh… yeah 20 metres.”

Interviewer: “20 meters, okay. So, was this drone closer than that?”

Fernando: “Yeah I think he was like, was it 10 metres from me in, at the end.”

Andreas, 25: “Well, I would say the guy playing with the drone I would say if

he was closer than 10 metres I would think it was weird but the drone I would

want like 50 metres away.”

To conclude, our findings reveal that people are concerned with the distance and al-

titude of drones whenever they either feel annoyed by them or that their private space

is being violated. In most cases, the noise made by the drone was the first thing that

triggered these negative feelings. Further, it is impossible to specify an optimal altitude

and distance since different people have different thresholds and conceptions. Howe-

ver, it is evident that the context of the encounter is of decisive importance. As some of

the participants noted, their reactions would have been different had they encountered

the drones in everyday (i.e. non-experimental) settings without knowing either the

drone’s purpose or who was flying it.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

FINDINGS OF STUDY 2 (INTERVIEWS IN RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS)

The 16 interviewees have varied conceptions of home and privacy. Nevertheless, some

patterns can be discerned in the expectation that participants have regarding privacy

in the context of their homes. The home is regularly seen as a private space that inclu-

des both the house and the adjoining garden, a space where 1) people can relax and

enjoy life free from disturbances and intrusions of uninvited others, 2) people are freed

from the gaze and judgements of others, and 3) people have control over things and

make their own decisions.

These conceptions and experiences of home and private space shape the expectations

and concerns that people voice about the use of drones in the vicinity of their home. The

newly acquired data permits us to extend the findings of our initial study (Bajde et al,

2017). We identify three dimensions of privacy concerns – the privacy triangle (Figure 1):

1) informational privacy

2) spatial privacy

3) uncertainty

Explanation and evidence for each dimension is presented below. We pay particular

attention to the dimension of spatial privacy as this dimension was less apparent prior

to the study and was found to be particularly central to reactions to the presence of a

Matrice 600 drone. In the last part of this section we discuss the participants’ reactions

to recreational use of smaller drones and their views on recreational drone regulation.

The participants had very limited experience with larger commercial drones, so a sub-

stantial majority was surprised by the size of a Matrice 600. Their reactions to experi-

encing the drone in action were mixed as they simultaneously found the drone impres-

sive and troublesome. While far less common when the drone stayed at the height of

75 metres, negative reactions became dominant at the lower altitudes, 25 metres in

particular. This conclusion holds for all three elements of the privacy triangle. We begin

by considering informational privacy.

INFORMATIONAL PRIVACY

Informational privacy refers to concerns that the drone will capture unauthorized

personal information (Finn et al. 2014). The most common concern expressed is being

photographed or filmed in one’s own house or garden.

“I think I would have a hard time if they [drones] fly in front of the windows.

I have my boundaries… I also think that people should have privacy in their

house and likewise in their own gardens, so that you can wear a bikini

without being photographed from above.” (Tine, 27)

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

In Tine’s case the concern is illustrated with the example of unauthorized capture of

sensitive personal information. Other participants list concerns such as being spied

upon by governmental institutions or nosy neighbours. The distance at which drone

surveillance and information capture take place, can play an important role.

“Oh boy, now you can actually see it… There are almost too many details…

You think that when it’s way up there [75m], then it only gives you [only] a

rough overview. I know that’s a bit naïve, because it [the drone’s camera] is

capable of so many things, but… you’re thinking that it’s not that close.”

(Ellen, 58)

Ellen feels that at 25m the drone becomes very visible, and at the same time she be-

comes very visible to the drone. She notes that while it might be naïve to underesti-

mate the drone’s capacity to observe from a greater height, she still feels much more

uncomfortable with the prospect of being observed from the lower altitude (25m).

There is a difference between actually being observed and having the feeling of being

observed. Irrespective of whether the drone is actually collecting information about

her, Ellen feels that she is observed. As discussed in the section devoted to uncertain-

ty, not knowing much about the drone’s capacities and purpose makes the problem of

informational privacy worse.

– 19 –

PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

– 20 –

PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

In addition to the distance, Ellen also points out that the movement of the drone is an

important factor in determining the negative experience of being observed. It is when

the drone hovers over her house that she feels most observed. Similar concerns regar-

ding informational privacy are expressed by other participants, who fear being obser-

ved and recorded while inhabiting a space that should not be subject to the eyes and

cameras of unwelcomed strangers (drones included).

SPATIAL PRIVACY

Spatial privacy refers to being protected from uninvited intrusions into one’s physical

and/or psychological sphere (Laurie 1999), in a manner that disrupts a person’s right to

be left alone (Solove 2008). In the case of drones, spatial privacy might relate to dis-

comforting feelings of being disturbed by the physical presence and noise of a drone

in one’s private space, or even feeling physically threatened by drones (e.g. fears of

injury).

We find that the problems of spatial privacy are significantly reduced when the drone

overflies a private garden or house at 75 metres. In contrast, they become particularly

acute at the lowest altitude. While some participants begin to express annoyance with

the drone’s presence at the 50 metre altitude, virtually all participants express some

concerns when the drone descends to 25 metres:

“Now I think it’s getting way too close, and it’s making more noise. So, now

it’s starting to become disturbing… It’s entering into my personal bubble.”

(Freja, 28)

I’m sick of the noise right now. Definitely. Now it’s turning into a somewhat

more annoying noise than when it was higher up [50m and 75m]. (Erik, 42)

“When it comes a bit too close… You are not able to control the situation. It

is rather uncomfortable. It’s a bit monster-like… It’s a bit spider-like.” (Hans,

83)

The participants feel discomforted by the presence of the drone at the 25 metre altitu-

de. They point out that the drone intrudes into their private space with a disturbing

noise, and with its visual presence. As indicated by Freja’s reference to the drone’s inva-

sion into her “personal bubble”, the drone does not invade private territory in the usual

sense of passing across the ground boundary demarcating private land. Instead private

territory is experienced in 3-dimensional terms: as a space that can be equally distur-

bed by entities that fly (too low).

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

There is no universal rule of thumb as to how high the bubble of private space extends

(i.e., the participants do not have a clear sense how high their private space reaches.

Further, the size of the bubble depends on the properties and behavior of the drone.

Our data shows that in the case of a large, noisy drone such as a Matrice 600, the pri-

vate bubble seems to reach at least 25 metres for most of the participants. In contrast,

spatial privacy works differently with smaller, less noisy drones, where the participants

are more willing to tolerate the drone at a lower altitude, as long as it is not filming

them or compromising their safety.

In summary, the participants experience the space enveloping their home (house and

adjoining garden) as a private space, where they are to be left alone and undisturbed.

Their claims are not based on explicit appeals to property rights (i.e., owning the space

around the house), but rather to culturally shared norms and psychological experiences

of “spaces of non-intrusion” (Hoeyer 2010, p. 271). Technologies such as drones, reopen

questions of “domestic boundaries” (Garvey 2005). Prior to the presence of the drone,

the participants had rarely considered what separates their private space from the col-

lectively owned airspace. The tests we conducted, compelled the participants to figure

out (in practice) at what point a drone crosses the borders of their private space. Put

differently, they figure out in situ at what point the “U-space” (European Commission

2017) occupied by drones starts to impinge upon private “Me-space”.

For example, there are marked differences in reactions between the higher altitudes

and the lowest altitude. While at 75 and 50 metres the sound of the drone is likened to

the noise of street traffic or lawnmowers, at the 25 metre altitude the participants be-

come bothered and annoyed by the noise of the drone. When expressing their discom-

fort with the proximity of the drone, participants describe the drone as “monstrous”

and “otherworldly”, that is, as something that does not belong in the context of their

home. While we can assume that such reactions might dissipate as drones become

more common, our results clearly indicate that both the sound and the visual design

of the drone plays an important role in shaping the public’s response to drones (e.g.,

feelings of vulnerability, intrusion and annoyance).

Finally, although the tests were organized in a manner that removes any doubt regar-

ding who is using the drone and for what purpose (i.e., the participants knew that the

drone is being operated by the research team), the participants regularly raised the

issue of uncertainty in regard to the purpose of drones, which we discuss next.

UNCERTAINTY

Not knowing who is operating a drone, and for what purpose, significantly exacerba-

tes feelings of privacy violation. As argued by Jesper (29), this relates to “wanting to

know where it [the drone] came from… Who’s at the other end. Because that’s what

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

maybe affects me the most, when it comes to privacy.” In a similar manner, several

participants argue that not being able to tell if the drone has a camera, and whether

it is recording, and who is observing/recording, causes considerable distress even if no

leakage of private information is actually taking place. As explained by Jane (26), bet-

ter access to information can help mitigate this problem: “[I]f you just tell people what

you are using it [the drone] for, police work or something like that, then I don’t think it

would bother anyone. I think it [privacy concerns] very much depends on the informa-

tion about why they [the drones] are there.” Put differently, privacy concerns can be

mitigated by providing information about the purpose of the drone.

“Not knowing”, on the other hand, exacerbates the experience of violation of both

informational and spatial privacy. Being informed about the presence of a drone in

advance, or at least being able to obtain information about it once it is noticed, might

enable participants to cope with the presence of drones in the vicinity of their home.

For example, Michael (26) argues that having information would enable him to mi-

nimize the disturbance: “Then you can prepare yourself that you shouldn’t run about

buck-naked on your patio.”

Others like Mette (26) argue that in the absence of specific information they would not

know how to react or what to do in case of drone intrusion. Therefore, providing ad-

vance notice that drones will be taking photographs or filming in the vicinity of one’s

home, and helping people to identify the drone and its mission, can help people reas-

sert a sense of control over their private space and mitigate the disturbing effects of

drone presence. In addition to amplifying informational and spatial privacy concerns,

uncertainty might be experienced as a fundamental aspect of privacy in its own right.

Additional analysis is needed to test this hypothesis.

Finally, our data also hints that public reactions and willingness to tolerate a decrease

in privacy due to drone presence, are mediated by the overall knowledge about and

disposition toward drones. Problems of uncertainty are exacerbated by the public’s

limited overall knowledge about drones, and uncertainty about the actual benefits and

hazards they pose. When people perceive drones to be beneficial to them or to society

at large, the willingness to tolerate and compromise increases. This stresses the need

for public institutions and industry to communicate with the public and engage in

emergent discussions about the benefits and costs of drones to society and individual

citizens.

VIEWS ON RECREATIONAL USE OF MICRO DRONES

After witnessing the flight of a Matrice600, the participants were shown a smaller

toy drone and asked to share their views on recreational use of smaller drones by ne-

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

ighbourhood residents. Participants express a high degree of tolerance for use of toy

drones in residential settings under certain conditions.

“I don’t think the toy drone is a problem. I mean, children should be allowed

to play. So, if the neighborhood kids play with drones and one ends up in our

garden – oh well. It doesn’t matter! It’s like if a football ends up in there [in

your garden]. Yes, they are welcome to do that.” (Hans 83)

There is a general strong consent among the participants that people should be allow-

ed to play with drones in their own gardens. The participants feel less bothered by a

drone, if it is small and less noisy. However, their tolerance has limits. After expressing

his approval of toy drone use, Hans stresses that this does not apply to drones flying

around the neighbourhood with a camera. His opinion corresponds to a clear pattern

across participant reactions to toy drones, that drones with cameras should be restric-

ted to the users’ own gardens, and unauthorized filming of neighbours was entirely

unacceptable. Several participants find it disturbing that the purpose of using a toy

drone equipped with camera is unclear (uncertainty), and various “transgressive” mi-

suses can be imagined.

Nevertheless, there is a reluctance to call for strict regulation, and communication

between neighbours and reliance on established neighbourhood norms that apply to

other play activities (e.g., kite-flying) is seen as a better solution to addressing the

potential problems arising from recreational drone use. The use of larger, more dange-

rous drones is seen as inappropriate outside of designated areas that ensure safety and

minimize the disturbing effects of drone noise.

Reactions to toy drone use in public spaces such as playgrounds or parks are mixed.

Although the participants express a higher degree of tolerance for smaller toy drones

(compared to larger commercial drones) and tend to be less concerned with being

observed or filmed in public space than in private space, some participants voice

concerns regarding safety, noise and the appropriateness of technological objects in

public spaces designed for children to play safely, or for adults to relax in natural sur-

roundings. As a result, participants voicing higher levels of concern suggest that drones

should only be used in designated public areas.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

CONCLUSION

The first study has two clear implications for effective regulation. Firstly, drone flights

at 50 metres and above have little effect, while flights at 20 metres disturb social

activities. Secondly, regulators and drone designers need to think about ways to make

it easy for people to understand what a drone is doing, if it is legitimate, and who is

responsible. Uncertainty and disturbance occur primarily in situations in which the

purpose and legitimacy of a drone are not easily identifiable. If regulators and desig-

ners can succeed in making drones easier to understand and to trust, they would be

better accepted by the public. The experimental methods used in this study provide an

effective toolbox to test a range of possible future solutions to these challenges.

The second study identifies a similar problem of uncertainty in a residential setting. By

delving deeper into the public’s privacy concerns, we uncover two main concerns: infor-

mational privacy and spatial privacy. We show that both forms of privacy are impacted

by the public’s uncertainty regarding drones and their use. What is more, we discover

that experiences of privacy concerns vary according to the height at which a drone

flies and the type of drone used (e.g., large commercial drone vs. smaller toy drone).

Our data indicates that the presence of larger drones at a 25-metre altitude signifi-

cantly impinges on people’s private space (understood in 3-dimenisonal terms). While

this problem is less significant in the case of smaller toy drones, informational privacy

concerns do not diminish, if toy drones are perceived to record photographs and video

footage.

In-depth interviews conducted prior and after direct exposure to drones were found to

be an effective tool in investigating how the presence of drones impacts the public’s

understanding of private space and concerns about privacy. Combined with observati-

onal methods, this approach offers valuable insight into public reactions to drone use

in urban areas.

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PUBLIC REACTIONS TO DRONE USE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS

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– 27 –

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