Yes, I think the underlying reason that drones are brought into these kind of discussions is because people are terrified of armed drones, especially autonomous

Yes, I think the underlying reason that drones are brought into these kind of discussions is because people are terrified of armed drones, especially autonomous ones. They make war cheap in the same way as CCTVs make surveillance cheap. But that's a completely different issue and shouldn't distract from the domestic surveillance one which is (at the moment) much more pressing.