Domestic drones: the politics of verticality and the surveillance industrial complex

Abstract

Drones are being introduced as innovative and cost-effective technologies for civil, commercial, and recreational purposes in the domestic realm. While the presence of these technologies is increasing, regulations are being introduced in order to ensure their safe and responsible use. As drones are adopted for a number of purposes, the “de facto practices settle around it, rendering change much more difficult” (Gersher, 2014), and so the policy debates must consider all contingencies and unintended consequences of their use. This paper discusses the background of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), their role as surveillance technologies, and how they reinforce asymmetries in power and visibility that contribute to a politics of verticality, ultimately arguing that surveillance concerns must become part of the discussion at the policy and regulatory level in order to mitigate any harms. Where drones are already used for care and control as technologies of surveillance, privileged use of drones by public and police agencies could further reinforce a politics of verticality (Weizman, 2002), resulting in specific types of space, risk, and population management.