Expert: Questions Still Remain Surrounding Privacy And Drones

A lot of people have questions about drones and privacy and trespassing issues.

What are your rights and what are the rights of your neighbors? For instance, could your neighbor shoot it out of the sky? And, if not, are they allowed to take it out some other way?

What if it's peering in a window, or if someone is sunbathing in the backyard, isn't that peeping tom or trespassing, especially if it's recording pictures or video?

Aviation expert Bill Carey said, right now, some of the answers to those questions are uncertain.

Lori: "People are going to say, if they're in my backyard they're trespassing, what's the law say about that?"
Carey: "There is no national overriding privacy regulations related to drones at this point."

As with many things, the technology develops faster than the laws, and many questions remain unanswered right now.

Case law will develop over time as courts handle situations on a case by case basis, but, the recommendation is don’t take pictures of anyone if they're in a place where they have an expectation of privacy, like inside their home.

A backyard is a little trickier. The FAA says your property ends at the top of your grass and they have authority over your air, while one judge said a property owner owns the air 83 feet up.

One man in Kentucky shot down a drone after he said it was hovering low in his backyard. He was arrested; the charges were later dropped but the drone owner sued him.

Carey said, "You'd be liable for any damages to the drone the owner might lodge against you."

Bill Carey is a senior editor with Aviation International News, based in Washington, D.C., and the author of Enter the Drones: The FAA and UAVs in America, released by Schiffer Publishing in July 2016.

The FAA created a video and app to keep you off the naughty list when you fly your recreational drone – it’s called Know Before You Fly.

You now have to register your drone, which costs $5 and it's valid for three years.

When you register, you must agree to fly it under 400 feet, not to let it get out of your sight, not to fly near airports or over stadiums, people or emergency response events - like fires - and not to fly under the influence.

Otherwise, you could be fined.

"You're then required to mark the drone with the registration number and to carry the certification whenever you're operating the drone," Carey said.

IOT Daily just reported last week the creation of drone defense security system that can analyze an object, and, if it's a drone, detect its make and model and then allow businesses to disarm or disable the drone or block its camera from transmitting pictures or video.

But, again, much of what is allowed and is not, and whose rights take precedence are yet to be worked out by the courts and lawmakers.

Because you don't want to be a test case for the law, if you feel a drone is invading your privacy or space you should call local law enforcement. And if you're flying one, follow the FAA guidelines.