I gathered that the point of the question is whether one would be able to distinguish between a power company drone and some random person flying in their back yard.
The city worker carries credentials and is usually driving a marked government vehicle. Neither one gets to be in my backyard without talking to me first.
No, but I have underground pipes managed by a metro district. I've had people come by who were supposed to be inspecting a meter and they do have reasonable requirements for giving notice that they're entering or doing work. I've also had people come by to mark utilities who didn't realize they weren't in the right place until my dog's presence in the back yard made them talk to me first, so this is an expectation I care about maintaining.
Some companies do use things like a mavic 2 pro for inspections, which consumers also purchase, there are no specific marking requirements (other than strobe if authorized for night operations) that a part 107 operated UAS would have that would be visible from the ground compared to the same hardware operated by a hobbyist.
If it's large and expensive the likelihood that it's some random person decreases, it's easy for a UAS with a thermal camera to be $8,000+.
I'd be vastly more concerned about the number of people dying from getting shot or in traffic accidents/drunk driving every year in the USA than people weaponizing hobbyist level drones.
> Threat modeling wise, these things could be bad & dangerous in one, two, three, four, more, different ways
I don't think anybody is going to break into my house because they surveilled the place with a drone. I do worry about feeling less secure on my property because someone keeps watching me in the backyard with a drone and I have no way of finding out who it is. There are plenty of fantastic things that drones can do, I just want greater accountability in knowing who is doing what. There's a reason trucks from Rando Contractor LLC carry a giant "VERIZON CONTRACTOR" sign on the side.
