No abstract

As more uses for UAVs appear, operators, and government are struggling to identify how to incorporate these devices into the airspace system. The perceptions of citizens may play a role in whether they are accepted or rejected by society since concerns over privacy have been a major issue expressed by citizens. The purpose of these studies was to examine two UAV missions that may raise privacy concerns. In one condition, the UAV was continuously operated, in the other, the UAV was sent up for a specific mission at a time. The data suggests that citizens' concerns for privacy were less in the condition where the UAV was only used for a specific mission than when it was operated continuously. Affect measures showed that emotions play a significant role in citizen's response. Through six unique and universal facial expressions, study three identified that disgust and fear were two main emotions that mediated the relationship between the usage of the UAV and concerns over privacy. The findings of these studies may have practical implications for both operators (private and military) and regulators in the government as both struggle to decide how successful implementation of UAVs into the airspace system should occur.

No abstract

While much research has examined engineering and practical uses of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), there have been very few studies that have examined privacy concerns that the public may have towards UASs. Even less research has been conducted on how gender and type of UAS mission may affect privacy concerns. This paper examines gender differences in privacy concerns across a wide array of UAS mission types. We also examine potential mediators that explain why females and males differ in their privacy concerns. A total of 1067 participants were presented with various hypothetical UAS missions across four studies. They were asked to provide privacy concerns scores and related information. The results of all four studies conclude that there are distinct gender differences in UAS privacy concerns. These differences are mediated by various factors. The researchers conclude that future UAS operation should take into consideration the public’s privacy concerns and that these concerns are different for females and males.