Just to answer your question, taking photos from the air, has been going on long before drones were around.
I've been doing it for 30 years from RC Aircraft. I have mounted video cameras, still cameras, video downlinks, etc. all from my aircraft.
Other's have been doing it from kites, poles (yes long poles), balloons, etc.
It's just that now the news has made a big deal about it, and of course, drones are easier to fly now, than RC aircraft in the past ever were.
Now you can get a very cheap drone for a few hundred dollars, and the thing will almost fly itself, and it has a camera included, all designed to easily take photos or videos.
In the past, it may not have cost much more money, but you had to spend a lot of time to learn how to fly it before you could ever hope to be able to successfully take photos, etc.
But to the surveillance comment, again I refer you to the previous link about the quality of what they see from the air:
http://petapixel.com/2015/08/21/are-...creep-you-out/
Or look at the photos from the first post in this thread, unless the drone is very very low, you can barely make out that there is as human in many of the photos. You certainly can't see much of any concern, or any personal details. It's not much different than worrying about an airplane flying by and someone looking out the window.