Public perception of UAS privacy concerns: a gender comparison

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.

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“…Social Challenges Early on, social challenges associated with commercial drones received great attention by academia and multiple studies already analyzed the public perception of drones in the past (e.g., Eißfeldt and End, 2020;Miethe et al, 2020). In this process, researchers repeatedly argue that the acceptance of drones as a new emerging technology will have a major impact on the success of integration and scaling of commercial use (Macias et al, 2019;Rice et al, 2018). The German Aerospace Center conducted a survey in Germany in 2020 with 832 participants on the acceptance of drone deliveries and showed that 59% of the respondents disapprove drone delivery applications.…”

“…Delivery drones for emergency situations or disaster management received much higher support than commercial parcel deliveries or the transport of people in autonomous air taxis (Aydin, 2019;Lin Tan et al, 2021;Miethe et al, 2020). In general, privacy and safety concerns were mentioned most often to impact public perception (e.g., Macias et al, 2019;Rice et al, 2018). Even though delivery drones do not primarily intend to capture sensitive video data or monitor people, they can impose stress and anxiety since they can easily create a feeling of "being watched" (Jeelani and Gheisari, 2021;Rice et al, 2018).…”

“…In general, privacy and safety concerns were mentioned most often to impact public perception (e.g., Macias et al, 2019;Rice et al, 2018). Even though delivery drones do not primarily intend to capture sensitive video data or monitor people, they can impose stress and anxiety since they can easily create a feeling of "being watched" (Jeelani and Gheisari, 2021;Rice et al, 2018). While privacy concerns are often described as more severe, safety of drone flights and environmental concerns such as noise were also often mentioned by the public (e.g., Jeelani and Gheisari, 2021;Macias et al, 2019).…”

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“…People's perception of how drones impact on their lives varies and is well documented in literature. Privacy is among the strongest concern (Walther et al 2019;Rice et al 2018;Grubesic and Nelson 2020). Under the drone's eye, people are like the prisoner of Michel Foucault's panopticon: "He is seen, but he does not see; he is an object of information, never a subject in communication.…”