The Future of Drone Use

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Drones Here, There and Everywhere Introduction and Overview

      • Bart Custers

      Pages 3-20

   3. Drone Technology: Types, Payloads, Applications, Frequency Spectrum Issues and Future Developments

      • Bas Vergouw, Huub Nagel, Geert Bondt, Bart Custers

      Pages 21-45

   4. Big Data, Drone Data: Privacy and Ethical Impacts of the Intersection Between Big Data and Civil Drone Deployments

      • Rachel Finn, Anna Donovan

      Pages 47-67

3. Opportunities and Threats

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69

      PDF

   2. Deliveries by Drone: Obstacles and Sociability

      • Sally A. Applin

      Pages 71-91

   3. Policing from Above: Drone Use by the Police

      • Bart Engberts, Edo Gillissen

      Pages 93-113

   4. The Humanitarian Drone and the Borders: Unveiling the Rationales Underlying the Deployment of Drones in Border Surveillance

      • Luisa Marin

      Pages 115-132

   5. The Humanitarian Use of Drones as an Emerging Technology for Emerging Needs

      • Tomas Martini, Michele Lynch, Abi Weaver, Tamieck van Vuuren

      Pages 133-152

   6. Terrorism and National Security

      • Sofia Michaelides-Mateou

      Pages 153-170

4. Ethical Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

      PDF

   2. The Humanization of Drones: Psychological Implications on the Use of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

      • David Bergman

      Pages 173-188

   3. Unmanned? The Bodily Harms and Moral Valor of Drone Warfare

      • Nicholas R. Brown

      Pages 189-207

   4. Victims of Drone Warfare: Stretching the Boundaries of Conflict; Ethics and Remote Control Warfare

      • Wim Zwijnenburg, Zorah Blok

      Pages 209-228

   5. Drones, Morality, and Vulnerability: Two Arguments Against Automated Killing

      • Mark Coeckelbergh

      Pages 229-237

5. Legal Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

      PDF

   2. Key Provisions in Current Aviation Law

      • Benjamyn Scott

      Pages 241-259

   3. Civilian Use of Drones as a Test Case for the Right to Privacy: An Israeli Perspective

      • Uri Volovelsky

      Pages 261-288

   4. Access to an Effective Remedy and Reparations for Civilian Victims of Armed Drone Strikes

      • Quirine Eijkman, Marlieke Bakker

      Pages 289-300

Given the popularity of drones and the fact that they are easy and cheap to buy, it is generally expected that the ubiquity of drones will significantly increase within the next few years. This raises questions as to what is technologically feasible (now and in the future), what is acceptable from an ethical point of view and what is allowed from a legal point of view. Drone technology is to some extent already available and to some extent still in development. The aim and scope of this book is to map the opportunities and threats associated with the use of drones and to discuss the ethical and legal issues of the use of drones.


This book provides an overview of current drone technologies and applications and of what to expect in the next few years. The question of how to regulate the use of drones in the future is addressed, by considering conditions and contents of future drone legislation and by analyzing issues surrounding privacy and safeguards that can be taken. As such, this book is valuable to scholars in several disciplines, such as law, ethics, sociology, politics and public administration, as well as to practitioners and others who may be confronted with the use of drones in their work, such as professionals working in the military, law enforcement, disaster management and infrastructure management. Individuals and businesses with a specific interest in drone use may also find in the nineteen contributions contained in this volume unexpected perspectives on this new field of research and innovation.


Bart Custers is Associate Professor and Head ofResearch at eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, The Netherlands. He has presented his work at international conferences in the United States, China, Japan, the Middle East and throughout Europe and has published over 80 scientific, professional and popularizing publications, including three books.

• Drones
• UAV
• Privacy
• Aviation Law
• Human Rights

• Faculty of Law, eLaw, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

  Bart Custers

Bart Custers PhD MSc LLM is associate professor and head of research at eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, the Netherlands. With a background in both law and physics, his research is focused law and digital technologies. He is also the former head of the research division on Crime, Law Enforcement and Sanctions of the research center (WODC) of the Ministry of Security and Justice in the Netherlands. His research interests include discrimination and privacy issues of new technologies, particularly data mining and profiling, and technology in policing. His research in the area of criminal law is focused on technologies that may contribute to law enforcement, criminal investigation and prosecution. Examples of such technologies are Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), wiretapping, fingerprints, forensic DNA research, database coupling, data mining and profiling, camera surveillance, network analyses and the use of drones.

Dr. Custers has published two books on discrimination and privacy in the context of Big Data. In 2015 he co-authored (in Dutch) a book on the use of drones. On a regular basis he gives lectures on profiling and privacy issues of new technological developments. He presented his work at international conferences in the United States, China, Japan, the Middle East and throughout Europe. He has published his work, over 80 publications, in both scientific and professional journals and newspapers.

Policies and ethics