The Dutch city of Utrecht has used camera drones during demonstrations seven times out of 522 total in 2024, according to tech news website Tweakers.
This is part of wider developments of using surveillance tech in urban contexts. Questions about privacy, facial recognition and face culture, the right to anonymity and political freedom are obvious, as are questions about potential bias in who may differ hands from these technologies. Not addressed in the article ( in Dutch) is the provenance of these drones. Dutch police are often using Chinese made drones from DJI, raising further issues around data souvereignty and tech infrastructures.