In the Air: Examining the Historical, Legal, and Social Dimensions of Drone Domestication
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Drones are a revolutionary and disruptive technology that has already affected and will continue to influence existing legislation, programs, and infrastructure in the United States. Drones were created as a military tool, but they have been repurposed for civilian and commercial applications in nonmilitary contexts. As drones have been adopted in the civilian realm for nonmilitary purposes, new actors have shaped and molded drones by changing how drones are viewed and used. Thus, drones have evolved due to repeated alterations and transformations by different audiences. Drones are becoming more commonplace in society, and while drone usage offers numerous benefits, there is also a multitude of issues and challenges associated with their widespread adoption. However, there is still a lack of federal legislation on drones. This thesis explores the historical military origins, as well as the current roles and implications, of drones in order to answer the questions: what are the historical, legal, and social dimensions of drones? Even though drones have been repurposed for nonmilitary functions, how does the military narrative of drones affect the legal and social aspects of domestic drone use? How should that information, framed through an STS paradigm, be employed in order to impact drone policy? This thesis is a historical and theoretical discussion on drones that examines when and why were drones created, how drones have changed and evolved, what are the new capabilities of drones, and for what purposes are drones now used. Because a comprehensive legal framework does not yet exist, this thesis offers a 5-step model that is informed by science and technology studies for drone policy considerations. The 5 steps of the model are: 1) Identify actor(s), 2) Identify and disaggregate possible applications, 3) Identify threats and vulnerabilities, 4) Analyze and evaluate potential risks, and 5) Rank priorities for policy considerations.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 2018 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Trinh, Elizabeth Nguyen |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | unmanned aerial systems |
|---|---|
| Subject | drones |
| Subject | military |
| Subject | nonmilitary |
| Subject | civilian |
| Subject | society |
| Subject | legal |
| Subject | policy considerations |
| Subject | model |
| Subject | legislation |
| Subject | science and technology studies |
| Subject | history |
| Subject | theory |
| Subject | Stanford University |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
| Related Publication | Braun, S., Friedewald, M., & Valkenburg, G. (2015). Civilizing Drones: Military Discourses Going Civil? Science & Technology Studies,28(2), 73-87. |
|---|---|
| Related Publication | Clarke, R. (2014). Understanding the drone epidemic. Computer Law & Security Review,30(3), 230-246. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2014.03.002 |
| Related Publication | Clarke, R. (2016). Appropriate regulatory responses to the drone epidemic. Computer Law & Security Review,32(1), 152-155. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2015.12.010 |
| Related Publication | Finn, R. L., & Wright, D. (2012). Unmanned aircraft systems: Surveillance, ethics and privacy in civil applications. Computer Law & Security Review,28(2), 184-194. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2012.01.00 |
| Related Publication | Padmanabhan, A. (2017, March). Civilian Drones and India’s Regulatory Response. Retrieved from https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_303_Ananth_Drones_Final_Web.pdf |
| Related Publication | Perritt, H. H., Jr., & Sprague, E. O. (2016). Domesticating Drones The Technology, Law, and Economics of Unmanned Aircraft. Routledge. |
| Related Publication | Rule, T. A. (2015). Airspace in an Age of Drones. In Boston University Law Review. |
| Related Publication | Schlag, C. (2013). The New Privacy Battle: How the Expanding Use of Drones Continues to Erode Our Concept of Privacy and Privacy Rights. Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law and Policy, 13(2). doi: 10.5195/tlp.2013.123 |
| Related Publication | Wall, T., & Monahan, T. (2011). Surveillance and violence from afar: The politics of drones and liminal security-scapes. Theoretical Criminology, 15(3), 239-254. doi:10.1177/1362480610396650 |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ck034mf9499 |
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- Use and reproduction
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Trinh, Elizabeth Nguyen. (2018). In the Air: Examining the Historical, Legal, and Social Dimensions of Drone Domestication. Honors Thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA.
Collection
Stanford University, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Honors Theses
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- Contact
- entrinh@stanford.edu
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