Drone Ethics and Surveillance Technology Guide
Drone Ethics and Surveillance Technology Guide
SURVEILLANCE
TECHNOLOGY AND
DRONE ETHICS
DISEC Study Guide
Index
1. Letters from the board
1.1. Letter from the Committee Director
1.2. Letter from the Assistant Director
1.3. Letter from the Moderator
2. Introduction to the topic
3. Introduction to the Committee
4. Definition of key terms
5. History of the topic
6. Current situation
7. Study cases
8. Relevant actors
9. Bloc positions
10. QARMAS
11. Position Papers
12. Bibliography
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My name is Mariano La Rosa Benites, and this year I am thrilled and honored to welcome you to the
eleventh edition of PUCPMUN 2022, in which you will have me as your Director on the
Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), along with Sebastian, Valery and
Valentino. At the present, I am nineteen years old and I’m in the third year of Law at the Pontificia
Universidad Católica del Perú, as I look forward to specializing in corporate and civil law. As for my
experience on the MUN circuit, I started debating in the 2017 edition of UsilMUN, where I uncovered
an amazing world to develop both academic and soft skills such as negotiation, investigation, drafting,
or efficiency under pressure. During the following years, I have taken part in several national
conferences, meeting countless people today I have the pleasure of calling friends.
The task of this committee might sound complicated: develop some ethical guidelines with the aim of
preserving the rights of people, while it is intended to preserve the benefits that innovative
technologies bring. As board of directors, we expect to see a fruitful and energetic debate, as well as
encourage you to bring content to the committee, and to demonstrate your research through unique
and realistic proposals of solution, set to solve the underlying problems.
Finally, without anything else to say, please feel free to contact me if you have any doubt. If this is
your first time on MUN, enjoy your journey, improve your abilities for the future, and have fun!
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Hey Delegates!
I’m Valery Campos and it’s an honor to be in charge of the Disarmament and International Security
Committee (DISEC) on this edition of PUCPMUN. I’m grateful to be working with Mariano,
Sebastian, and Alejandro to make this experience unique for all of you.
I’m an IB year 2 student, and this will be my last year at school. Because of that I already decided to
study International Relations, which is a degree that I found and started like it because of MUN. My
first approach to Model United Nations was in 2019 when I was in my second year of high school,
SAMUN being my first conference assistant. Since then, I have participated in so many other
conferences virtual and non-virtual. To add, I realize that my favorites committed were the
Organization of American States (OAS) and this committee, DISEC.
The topic of this committee invites you to create proposals for the regulation of Survival technology
and Drones, considering the impact of their harmful use of them on international peace and the
policies of your countries. As a regular debater on the DISEC committee, I also hope that you can
follow the basics of the committee and not divert the main topic, always taking into consideration
when it is necessary to talk about a topic (related to the main one) to solve any problems that can be
formed during the debate.
Finally, I hope all of you can enjoy the debate. If you have any doubt you can write to my e-mail
valerycam.9@[Link] and I’ll try to respond soon as possible. See you in the conference.
Best wishes,
Valery.
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My name is Sebastian Tara Guerrero, and I am truly honored to be Assistant Director in this
PUCPMUN 2022 edition of the DISEC committee along with Mariano, Valery and Valentino.
I am currently twenty years old and I'm in the 7th term of Law School at the Universidad de Lima,
looking forward to specialize in civil law. I started to participate in Model United Nations in 2016,
and I learned a lot of things such as soft skills, different ways to control stressful situations, and
abilities that are going to be useful in my entire life, such as leadership and creative thinking.
I have high expectations about this committee, every member of the dias is waiting to see your
performance, speeches, and solution proposals over this interesting and such recent topic.
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Welcome delegates!
I am Alejandro Valentino Ramos Carbajal, and in this edition of PUCPMUN 2022, I have the
honor of being the Moderator of the groups of boards together with Mariano, Sebastian, and Valery.
I am 17 years old, and I am currently in my first year at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano
Heredia (UPCH), where I have the pleasure of developing different academic and soft skills. From
this, I highlight my interest in the debate, in the sense of how different interests and individuals are
involved, which finally allow us to reach the solution of common problems.
My experience on the MUN circuit began in 2020 with DLSMUN, a virtual conference where
I had the opportunity to introduce myself to this type of debate, thus leading to my participation in
different conferences on the national and international circuit, such as PUCPMUN, PeruMUN,
YYPMUN, UPNMUN, LiMUN, FPDMUN, InnovaMUN, UsilMUN, and so on. Of these, I have been
deserving of certain recognitions in the committees where I was able to participate, among them
honorable mentions, outstanding delegate, best delegate and best position paper. Likewise, I have had
the pleasure of participating as a board of directors, both virtual and face-to-face, as it was in
LATAMMUN, COARMUN, EcoMUN and MCDCMUN.
With regard to the Disarmament and International Security Committee, it is one of my
favorite committees in which I feel more comfortable debating, adding also that it is one in which I
have been able to obtain recognition. Personally, I hope to see a fruitful debate, with a high level of
content, this being essential for the development of a delegate, in addition to concrete proposals that
can articulate concise and real solutions to the question raised. In the same way, it should be noted that
the negotiation skills that allow them to position their positions and interests within the committee
will be of the utmost importance. Finally, I enclose my personal email in case of any doubt or
eventuality: [Link].carbajal2005@[Link].
Best of luck!
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Prominently, drones raise several issues regarding the protection of privacy and the use of personal
data. Indeed, the drone has become well known in recent years for its ability to perform wartime
surveillance overseas, being able to gather intelligence for hours and even days on end. Drone
surveillance can be regarded either as a justifiable, impartial practice serving the interests of all or as
an oppressive technique catering to the interests of some at the expense of others (West & Bowman,
2016). This capability is now sought by domestic agencies such as law enforcement and other
agencies. Yet as the possibility of domestic drone surveillance becomes more realistic, critics of such
a policy have raised questions over the privacy of individuals in regard to drones and the information
collected. Codes of ethics are needed to address issues that will arise with the implementation of
domestic drones (Holmlund, 2017).
Growth in this area has recently increased exponentially, particularly because of developments in
lightweight construction materials, microelectronics, signal processing equipment and GPS
navigation. More than 50 nations currently use drones for military reconnaissance,
intelligence-gathering and targeting, and as of 2003 at least three dozen nations had active UAV
development or application programs. However, the civil market for UASs is the largest area of
predicted sector growth in the next few years. For example, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has
stated that model aircraft have been flying successfully for years “performing aerial work tasks,
effectively operating as UAVs”. Furthermore, a worldwide survey of existing UASs in 2004 found
that 79% are aimed at civil research or dual-purpose operations and that this is likely to continue. This
emerging civil market includes potential applications such as public security, law enforcement, border
patrol, emergency services and commercial services (Finn & Wright, 2012).
Much critique surrounding the introduction of surveillance technologies such as UASs, or their
expansion from military to civil applications, has centered on civil liberties concerns. Privacy
represents a key framework through which surveillance technologies, and particularly “new
surveillance” technologies, are critiqued, although scholars have had difficulty in agreeing on a
precise conceptualization (Finn & Wright, 2012).
In addition to safety concerns, there are significant ethical considerations surrounding the use of
UASs for surveillance in civil applications. There has been an on-going debate on the ethics of using
remotely piloted vehicles in combat operations. They have been blamed for significant losses of life
on the ground in combat zones, the removal of soldiers from the human consequences of their actions.
In relation to civil applications, drones and other robotic tools will add to the risks of a Playstation
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mentality developing along Nations' borders, where bodies are objectified into things to track,
monitor, apprehend, and kill. Also, in the context of the increasing use of drones by law enforcement
agencies, issues arise regarding the limits applied to fundamental rights. In order to avoid abuses,
some States are working to develop regulations to govern the use of drones by law enforcement and
rescue services (Baudouin, 2021).
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The role of the First Committee is essentially political, dealing with disarmament, global challenges
and threats to peace and security that affect the international community, and seeks out solutions to the
challenges in the international security regime (United Nations, n.d.). The purpose of DISEC is
specified in the Chapter IV, Article N°11, of the United Nations Charter, which manifests that “the
General Assembly may consider the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of
international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of
armaments, and may make recommendations with regard to such principles to the Members or to the
Security Council or to both” (United Nations, n.d.).
Some of the most important achievements by this committee are the “Resolution 1 (I)”, the very first
General Assembly resolution, entitled “Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems
Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy” adopted on 24 January 1946; and the “Resolution 1378
(XIV)”, the very first General Assembly resolution that was co-sponsored by all Member States at that
time (United Nations, n.d.).
Finally, although DISEC does not have the power to impose rules on unwilling countries, we must set
a standard for which countries can strive towards in terms of balancing civilian safety and innovation
interest. In that way, being the international cooperation on peaceful uses of technology in the context
of international security one of the main agenda items, the supervision and regulation of surveillance
practices involving Unmanned Aerial Systems overly concerns the First Committee, guaranteeing
international peace and security, as well as the protection of citizen’s right to privacy.
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4. KEY TERMS
Drones have many benefits. Notably, they allow countries to conduct surveillance and attack groups
that may be in remote locations without stepping on enemy territory, guaranteeing some indisputable
additional layer of security to the (remote) pilot. Supporters of drones emphasize that this technology
reduces costs, keeps troops at home, and is more efficient and effective than any other.
Surveillance
Focused, systematic and routine attention to personal details for purposes of influence, management,
protection, or direction. It also involves the systematic investigation or monitoring of the actions or
communications of one or more persons. Accordingly, its main goal is to collect information about
people, their activities, or their associates. Modern surveillance practices comprise a myriad of actors
– private, corporate, and governmental. Therefore, surveillance can take multiple forms: inter alia
corporations collecting consumers’ data in order to enhance marketing strategies and product
developments; citizens engaging in the observation of the powerful; CCTV (Closed Circuit
Television) and facial recognition systems to surveil, prevent, and punish crimes. Additional
surveillance activities are constantly emerging due to the development and expansion of innovative
technologies. Consequently, surveillance has become a norm in our daily life, rendering modern
society a ‘surveillance society’ (Rudschies et al., 2022).
Intelligence-gathering
The process by which specific types of information important to national security are requested,
collected, analyzed, and provided to a policy maker; the products of that process; the safeguarding of
these processes and this information by counterintelligence activities; and the carrying out of
operations as requested by lawful authorities. It is essential for law enforcement agencies to
understand the current environment in order to develop strategies and plans to meet the identified
challenges. This can only be achieved through gathering of intelligence: capacity must be built to
collect, collate, analyze, and disseminate information on criminal activities and various challenges to
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internal and international security, so as to afford the necessary regulations to operate effectively in
combating such challenges (Adegoke, 2020).
Privacy
Although a widely accepted definition of privacy remains elusive, there has been rather more
consensus on a recognition that privacy comprises multiple dimensions (Finn & Wright, 2012). Lewis
(2022) briefly defines it, in a modern context, as the right of individuals to be free from unwarranted
publicity or uninvited intrusions into their personal affairs. Privacy specialist Roger Clarke specified
as aspects of “privacy of the person” the privacy of personal data, privacy of personal behavior and
privacy of personal communication. Similarly, Solove asserts that privacy is best understood as a
“family of different yet related things”; one aspect of this family is data protection, where some
lawmakers have attempted to use data protection legislation to mitigate concerns around the effects of
surveillance.
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Despite recent growth in the UAV/UAS market, UAVs (drones) have a relatively long history. The
first unmanned aircraft was a torpedo developed in 1915 for the US Navy and used for the first time in
1918, which was designed to fly to a specific location and drive into its target. In the Second World
War, they were used as radio-controlled targets and for reconnaissance missions; around 1940, Walter
Righter’s Radioplane OQ-2, the first mass-produced UAV, was used by the Americans for various
purposes.
More recently, in 1982, the destruction of Lebanese SAM (surface-to-air missiles) sites was aided
using reconnaissance from Israeli IAI “scout drones”. In the 1990s, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA began research into further uses of UAVs, and several
well-known UAVs such as the Helios, Proteus, Altus Pathfinder and Predator (which was first used by
the US to support the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War) resulted from this effort. Since the first Gulf
War, there has not been a conflict where UAV have not been deployed. In 2004, it is conducted the
first public drone strike in Pakistan, with a result of around ten people killed and three injured; just in
the following decade, it was estimated that over 2,400 people have died in the past five years only
from U.S. drone strikes.
The drone technology evolved, also, into other military (non-necessarily warfare) applications, such
as human research, espionage, intelligence-gathering, among others; recreational, such as the
developing market of acrobatic drones, commonly associated with hobbies and competitions; and
even corporative usage, as a fast delivery method. These drones can vary widely in size depending on
how and where they are used: smaller drones are often used by police departments and universities,
while bigger ones keep being restricted to military usage. Beyond the physical size, the technology
varies with each drone in its application. The most common technology used is a high-powered
camera to take still or moving pictures. Beyond the camera, drones can be outfitted with thermal
imaging devices, license plate readers, laser radar, and facial recognition software.
As these technologies improve the ability to perform surveillance, the demand for drone use has
grown the most from law enforcement and Homeland Security. More than 50 nations currently use
drones for military reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and targeting13 and as of 2003 at least three
dozen nations had active UAV development or application programs (Finn & Wright, 2012). The FAA
predicts that requests for drone use will continue to rise, and it foresees 30,000 drones in use by 2030
(Holmlund, 2017). It is in this context that raises the concern about whether the use of drones is truly
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safer than manned-piloted aircraft, if the integration of the necessary technology to make it so would
imply a reasonable cost and if its usage would present any other risk.
Several domestic UAV accidents have been reported; in 2006, for example, a Predator B drone
operated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) crashed along the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2009
North Little Rock’s unmanned helicopter crashed due to a “software failure.” In 2010, a Mexican
drone crashed into the backyard of an El Paso home. And that same year, a military drone
experiencing what the Navy called a “software problem” flew off course and entered restricted
Washington, DC airspace. According to government data, UAVs experience an accident rate over
seven times higher than general aviation, and 353 times higher than in commercial aviation (Stanley
& Crump, 2011).
Drone safety
Without a physical pilot, a drone is reliant on satellite and other communication technology to be able
to fly as its operator would see fit. The possible danger occurs when the drone loses contact with its
navigator, when the drone operates in airspace shared with other man-piloted aircrafts without any
way to see or detect the other aircraft or when the drone’s navigation is tampered with in a process
called spoofing, which involves the counterfeiting of the Civil Global Positioning System (GPS) that
domestic drones use and could lead to complete system failure. The Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) in its code of conduct states that an unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) will not be operated in a manner that presents unnecessary risk to persons on the ground or in
the air. In an effort to match man-piloted aircrafts and ensure the ethical use of drones, technological
development must continue as well as the efforts of the international community to regulate it.
Ethics
As mentioned before, there are some significant ethical considerations about the use of Drones for
surveillance applications such as the human detachment of the distance-pilots on ground and the
consequences of their actions; furthermore, there is certain component of dehumanization, while every
component of the population becomes some trackable and monitorable object. In addition, there is
some debate and theories about how UAVs affect the targets of this remote surveillance: drones raise
civil liberties concerns because everyone gets monitored, photographed, tracked and targeted, many
times incurring in discriminatory targeting practices, which might go along with institutional abuse.
The individuals operating surveillance systems bring to the job all their existing prejudices and biases.
In Great Britain, camera operators have been found to focus disproportionately on people of color;
according to a sociological study of how the systems were operated, black people were between
one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half times more likely to be surveilled than one would expect from their
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presence in the population (Stanley & Crump, 2011). From the sky, differences among people may be
less detectable, or more accurately the motivations to make such fine-grained distinctions may be
attenuated in the drive to engage some sort of previously settled objective. Despite apparent
technological neutrality, the negative ethical impacts of UAS devices are likely to fall
disproportionately on marginalized populations.
Some of the consequences of the intrusions of UASs include physical, psychological and social
effects. McBride postulates that the mass deployment of UAS surveillance vehicles which are
imperceptible from the ground “could lead to an environment where individuals believe that a UAS is
watching them even when no UASs are in operation” (cited in Stanley & Crump, 2011). This could
have a self-disciplining effect, as first described by Bentham and Foucault, where individuals adjust
their behaviors as though they were being always watched. As a result, “this advancement of
surveillance technology threatens to erode society’s expectation of privacy” as well as gives the
sensation of permanent restraining (Dunlap, 2009).
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6. CURRENT SITUATION
To this day, there remains a lack of legislation that clearly sets international boundaries for drone
usage, mainly because of its ambiguous place in Humanitarian Law. Many people against UAVs
continue to argue for the protection of civilians’ rights. With the use of drones becoming increasingly
popular, the question of whether drones should become an active part of UN peacekeeping efforts
have also been raised. Certainly, the advantages that unmanned systems or robots bring are
undeniable; following this, advocates for surveillance drones such as Jane Holl Lute, a former UN
secretariat member and former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, believe that they can be
helpful, for example, in tracking down militants in a certain area. Indeed, in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, surveillance drones helped track down Tutsi rebels in the air and are expected to be used
more frequently in future peacekeeping efforts. However, drones aren’t only beneficial as a military
technology but also the burgeoning field of civil applications, and to hinder their use would also be to
hinder the development of technology and the furthering of human creativity.
Legislation has, for the most part, been unchanged or, at least, ineffective. Because of a lack of clear,
direct international legislation on the topic of drone usage, interpretations tend to give room for
argumentation on both sides. Despite this, indirect yet relevant laws do exist that lay the legal
foundation for the argument over drones: objectively, vague rules that at times contradict each other.
Recently, however, more questions have been raised on the topic of drones, their usage, and their lack
of transparency. Furthermore, the inadequacy of current legislation mechanisms results in
disproportionate impacts on civil liberties for already marginalized populations (Finn & Wright,
2012). The risk of illegal drone usage, along with the possibility of drones being sold to terrorist
groups for espionage or intelligence-gathering use has forced nations to start asking themselves tough
questions. Part of the solution would be to enact a drone quota, limiting the production of drones to a
level that all parties can approve of. It is also important that groundwork is laid down in order to help
drone manufacturers verify buyers to be trustworthy, preventing drones from reaching the illegal
market or terrorist groups.
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7. STUDY CASES
India
One of the most advanced countries related to technology, including the creation of drones. The
Indian Industry had been growing and the Indian government started implementing laws to protect
civilians from its use. Principally, the influence of the communities was what led to India regulating
the use of aircraft. But even so, India passed the Personal Data Protection Bill in 2019, which allows
the government to use personal data that might affect the security of civilians. On the other side,
UAVs were used to ensure the safety of assistants during Commonwealth Games in 2010
USA
Since 2002, US Marines operated UAVs to intercept people for illegal activities and the success of the
system helped officers to capture 2300 undocumented immigrants. This, for the first instance, was
only the government who had access to this technology but in September 2015 the US airspace was
open to private companies. According to The Journalist Resource in 2015 100 companies, academic
institutions, and government organizations developed over 300 UAV designs. And nowadays, it is not
only the government that has access to the use of this technology, civilians, and businesses also do.
United Kingdom
UAVs are covered by the Data Protection Act of 1998 or the Regulation Investory Powers Act (RIPA)
from 2000. The acts controlled the data protection of the surveillance systems and allows civilians to
request copies of their data. Also, RIPA allows the government not to inform individuals about the use
of UAVs close to them if the activities are completely legal.
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8. RELEVANT ACTORS
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9. BLOC POSITIONS
Countries had been working on the regulation, and promotion of the use of UAVs. That is why the
directors are looking for blocs according to the policies of each country and the way that each of them
manages the topic. Here are some positions that can be followed for the debate.
Regulators
Countries that had adopted laws to regulate the use of UAVs, as the majority of the European Union,
are more concerned by the ethical problems associated with drone strikes as compared to its American
counterparts. Its technology is among the most developed in the world, and any usage of drones tends
to be more coordinated across different European nations. Although it remains a staunch ally of the
US, it has condemned unlawful drone strikes conducted by the US in countries like Yemen and
Pakistan; EU nations have also supported the idea of pressuring all nations into being more
transparent and accountable for their actions.
France, specifically, adopted a law on October 24, 2016, responding to overflights caused by UAVs.
Belgium and Spain had also adopted laws to regulate the use of drones according to the issues that
each country has.
UAVs users
As the US and Indian governments are countries that use surveillance technology for their own
purposes. Even if they have regulations for their use, some of them are beneficial for the countries and
their use in their own territories or others.
United States of America: As the country with the largest arsenal of UAVs and the most
frequent user of drones, the US has an exceptionally influential role to play in any discussion
regarding drones. Due to its aggressive counterterrorism campaigns, and its reliance on drone
strikes to carry out expeditionary affairs, the US has the most to lose if strict regulations on
the usage of drones are to be passed. The United States is also extremely weary of drone
technologically unintentionally falling into enemy hands, subsequently, drone proliferation is
a large concern for them.
China: China sees UAVs as a technological advantage over neighboring countries, allowing
them to gain aerial dominance in areas where there are land disputes. Aware of the gap
between their military and the militaries of the other world powers, China sees drones as a
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way to level the playing field by emphasizing and developing additional methods of
asymmetrical warfare and intelligence-gathering, drones being one of them.
Russia
In recent years, the Russian Federation has been committing heavily on developing and financing
drone technologies. This policy stands in stark contrast with a speech made by Vladimir Putin on
November 28th, 2013, stating that: “Drones are finding an increasingly wide use all over the world,
but we are not going to operate them as other countries do”. Russia’s overall strategic ambiguity
regarding drones is further complicated by recent reports of drone usage in the Ukraine. Like the
People’s Republic of China, Russia sees drones as a technological and military edge over its neighbors
and values their use in furthering their policy objectives.
Asia
Many of the developed Asian nations, such as Japan and South Korea, are pioneers in advanced
robotic and drone technology, yet voluntarily choose not to implement them for military uses.
However, the technological capacity and economic backing to effectively wield drones as weapons of
war and its other various applications are definitely present. On the contrary, regional powers such as
India, Pakistan and Iran are interested in using drones and developing newer technologies, even
though drones are not a strategic priority. These nations are also concerned about America’s and to a
lesser extent, Russia’s and China’s technological edge in this field.
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12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Rudschies, Catharina, Johann Čas, Paul De Hert, Maria Grazia Porcedda, and Charles D. Raab. 2022.
“Power in the Modern ‘Surveillance Society’: From Theory to Methodology.” Information Polity: The
International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age 27 (2): 275–89.
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Adegoke, N. (2020). Intelligence Gathering and Challenges of Insecurity In Nigeria. African Journal
of Criminology & Justice Studies, 13(1), 30–39.
Lewis, T. T. (2022). Right of privacy. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Dunlap Travis. Comment: we’ve got our eyes on you: when surveillance by unmanned aircraft
systems constitutes a Fourth amendment search. South Texas Law Review Fall 2009;51(1):173-204
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