Dragonflies, beetles, bats, and bees: what do these all have in common? 

All naturally exhibit ingenious aerodynamic function, hyper-vigilant sensory perception, and radar mechanisms. Roboticists, engineers, and nanoscientists study and mimic natural subjects like these in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – drones.

This is biomimetics, the study of the structure and function of biological systems as models for the design and engineering of materials and machines. Militaries around the globe already count on it: mimicking the natural world is a guaranteed way to make faster, agile, and more accurate UAVs. Soon, that same technology will broaden the reach of the Internet, enhance disaster relief efforts, and reduce transportation emissions.

Critics argue that the costs of drone activity – mainly sacrifices to privacy – outweigh the benefits, but that is hard to measure: the technology has potential to break new ground on some of today’s most intractable global challenges. We need rules, but we need not stand in the way.

A long time coming

First, some background: biomimetics is not a new concept. Leonardo da Vinci, the father of the Renaissance, was one of the first to study the principles of aerodynamics in this way. He modeled his art after nature, sketching plans for airplanes based on biology. His notebooks were full of drawings describing birds in flight and the mechanical models naturally occurring in their anatomy. 

Today's drones emerge from a long history of biomimetics. 

Before that, Chinese armies used kites for military communication and attacks as far back as 196 B.C. The first UAV was invented by Chinese General Han Xin. He used a kite to calculate distance, coordinate his army, terrorize the enemy by fashioning it in the shape of a mythical beast, or distract them by setting it on fire. 

Today’s drones emerge from a long history of biomimetics, and they have come a long way. The smallest drone on record – the Wasp drone – excels at spying missions due to its endurance and extremely quiet electric motor. It is already in use in Afghanistan. This kind of insect-like drone is called an “ornithopter,” from the Greek word ornithos meaning “bird” and pteron meaning “wing.” 

Another ornithopter, the Hummingbird drone, exhibits extremely sophisticated technology. It can fly up, down, and sideways, and weighs less than an ounce. It can perch on a ledge, and it can hover in the air for over 11 minutes before its battery needs to be charged. It is remote-controlled and can take video. The creation of this state-of-the-art drone was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government agency responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military. It was voted best invention of the year by Time Magazine in 2011.

The Flybot drone is the size of a house fly and can pierce skin to inject poison or take a DNA sample. Imagine: a fly on the wall that can not only hear and see but can also kill, leaving no trace. 

Clearly, the technology is powerful.

Squaring off

A debate has long simmered over the use of drones abroad, due in large part to the Obama administration’s reliance on UAVs in counter-terrorism operations. The debate over domestic drone use, however, is just taking off.  

The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) said in June that widespread U.S. commercial drone operations could begin by the end of 2016 or early 2017, allowing more law enforcement agencies to use drones and to do so more readily.The Mesa County Sheriff in Colorado was the first to use drones in everyday police work, and their drone of choice is the Draganflyer X6, which retails for $12,000 and can hover for long periods of time over a crime scene. According to the director of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, “the aerial photograph of the crime scene is excellent. The drone flies faster and cheaper than a conventional helicopter.” 

Meanwhile, counties and cities across the United States have countered by introducing anti-drone legislation. Citizens of Charlottesville, Virginia, were the first to ban UAV flights within the city limits. Similarly, the police department in Seattle, Washington, grounded its drones due to public privacy concerns.

Others are less worried about the privacy implications of a sky full of drones. In Florida, Bill SB 92 – signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in 2013 – affirmed that drone use by civilian organizations will improve the safety and general welfare of the public. This bill specifically allows police to use drones (after attaining a warrant) in cases of lethal threat.

Drone laws still vary drastically between states, and there has been no federal mandate from the Supreme Court regarding the use of drones and privacy rights.

In March 2014, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg even argued that drones would be necessary to stop attacks on the city. His point: it makes no difference whether authorities spy on people from a drone in the air or from the top of a building. “We’re going to have more visibility and less privacy, I don’t see how you stop that. It’s just we’re going into a different world, uncharted, and like it or not, what people can do, what governments can do, is different. And […] you can’t keep the tides from coming in.” Bloomberg believes that military-style drones will soon be patrolling the skies above New York City – fitted with face recognition software that will monitor New Yorkers’ each and every move.

Indeed, experts estimate that by the year 2020 there will be around 20,000 drones patrolling our skies around the globe. 

The point is: drone laws still vary drastically between states, and there has been no federal mandate from the Supreme Court regarding the use of drones and privacy rights. As of late 2014, 20 state legislatures were considering legislation to set standards and limits of drone use by police.

Similarly, there are no constitutional guidelines on how police can use technologies to collect information on private citizens. This leads to difficult questions. Will domestic drone use affect our privacy rights afforded by the Fourth Amendment? Who decides who is to be watched? What does the government do with the private information collected? 

Local, state, and national governments need to work with the public to answer these questions – and quickly.

Changing the world… for the better

Private industries model a different aspect of drone technology, and global companies like Amazon and Google are at the forefront of commercial drone use. Amazon plans to deploy a fleet of drones that can fly anywhere in the world to deliver consumer goods. The benefits of such a model are not just about convenience: using drones for shipping could cut down on pollution and reduce global warming by reducing the need for large airplanes, trucks, and trains.

For its part, Google outbid Facebook in April 2014 to buy a company that manufactures high-altitude drones, reinforcing their commitment to bring internet access to far-flung corners of the world. Using high-altitude aircrafts can be cheaper and quicker than installing wired telecoms networks in countries with little infrastructure and sparse populations. Drones can also take pictures of the earth’s surface, potentially making Google’s mapping software even more accurate.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also ready to send a cache of drones into U.S. airspace. The agency has received over 50 applications from 37 states requesting permission to become test sites for their drone program. In addition, for the first time in history the FAA has approved the commercial use of drones. Presently there are 45 companies with approval from the FAA to use drones below 200 feet for commercial purposes. The first permit in history for a commercial UAV to fly over U.S. soil was given to the oil company BP. BP used a drone from the company AeroVironment to conduct surveys in Alaska. The drone will survey pipelines, roads, and equipment.

This is what we really need to be talking about: the huge potential progress drones offer to populations around the globe. 

Now is the time to make decisions about drone use and put in place a solid legal framework to regulate their use: preemptively and proactively.

Privacy rights are important, but drone technology holds the promise of real global progress. Experts predict that atmospheric satellites could help bring internet access to millions of people, improve disaster relief efforts, and reduce environmental damage like deforestation.

Now is the time to make decisions about drone use and put in place a solid legal framework to regulate their use: preemptively and proactively. Local, state, and national governments need to open the skies to global commercialization and create some rules of the road – or sky, in this case. And we need to change the public discourse on drones to help a wary populace change pervasive negative perceptions.

Drones are here to stay, and we all stand to benefit. We need to stop looking backward. It’s time to start looking up.

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Charity Morsey Azadian is a national security expert, professor, diplomat, and author. She served as the first Special Assistant on International Affairs for the Science and Technology Directorate at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and as a Senior Policy Advisor on Nuclear Nonproliferation at the U.S. Department of Energy in the George W. Bush Administration.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.