Societal Acceptance of Urban Drones: A Scoping Literature Review

The use of drones (or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in urban areas has emerged rapidly in the last decade, and continues to expand at an accelerating pace. Alongside the emergent uses of high-impact technology in both public and private sectors, political debates about the potential risks and challenges have arisen, encompassing diverse perspectives and attitudes about the ethical, legal, social, and regulatory implications of introducing and integrating new technology in society. This scoping review offers an assessment of the societal acceptance factors of urban drones discussed in the current academic literature. We used a hybrid approach including quantitative landscape mapping and qualitative content analysis of the selected articles to inductively develop a typology of acceptance factors associated with urban use of drones. This review illuminates areas that have been the focus of attention within the current body of knowledge (e.g., visual and noise pollution of drones), sketches the evolution of the relevant discussions over time (e.g., a focus on the safety of the drone technology toward safety of the cargo it carries and security of the data it collects), and points to areas that have received less considerations (e.g., media appropriation and social group influence). It can, thus, help situate the topic of societal acceptance of urban drones in specific contexts, and orient future research on promoting value sensitive innovation in society more broadly

Moving beyond privacy and airspace safety: Guidelines for just drones in policing

The use of drones offers police forces potential gains in efficiency and safety. However, their use may also harm public perception of the police if drones are refused. Therefore, police forces should consider the perception of bystanders and broader society to maximize drones' potential. This article examines the concerns expressed by members of the public during a field trial involving 52 test participants. Analysis of the group interviews suggests that their worries go beyond airspace safety and privacy, broadly dis-cussed in existing literature and regulations. The interpretation of the results indicates that the perceived justice of drone use is a significant factor in acceptance. Leveraging the concept of organizational justice and data collected, we propose a catalogue of guidelines for just operation of drones to supplement the existing policy. We present the organizational justice perspective as a framework to integrate the concerns of the public and bystanders into legal work. Finally, we discuss the relevance of justice for the legitimacy of the police's actions and provide implications for research and practice