Let's take a look over at that quaint document, the US Constitution, and zero-in on the 4th Amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Now, let's remind ourselves that the founders of this country insisted that the only legitimate use of state authority would flow from the powers explicitly granted to the government by this Constitution. Any power above and beyond what the Constitution outlined was illegal and immoral. So what does the 4th Amendment grant to the government, and what does it reserve specifically and inviolably to the People? Well for one, 'unreasonable' searches are off-limits, totally and completely. At least, that's how I read "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." Is a broad-based surveillance of entire neighborhoods and cities a reasonable search? I think not. Reasonable searches require some suspicion of a crime before state searches become legitimate.
Reasonable searches also require warrants. Despite present courts' approval of warrantless wiretapping, stop & frisks, car searches based upon flimsy notions of 'probable cause,' etc., the Founders intended all searches to be preceded by a warrant, one that is based "upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." There are few times when a drone survey of a whole city could or should receive a warrant: perhaps when a known violent criminal is on the run and mid-spree in that city, but hardly ever else.
I don't support police helicopters hovering over the ghetto all day either, but at least the costs and risks involved there provide some checks against their over use & abuse. Drones will open the floodgates to the panopticon. Being concerned about this is not unreasonable: your celebration of the surveillance state is.
Ignoring the Constitution is un-American and anti-Democratic.
-app