Drone spying, an unpunishable crime ?

R

redblood

Well-known member
Seems to be the case here in good old, sunny, laid back Queensland.

This evening I called the police to tell them that I had witnessed a drone flying from window to window at the family orientated Marriott hotel and that it had
done the same at my apartment block and that when I went to swat it with my mop that it quickly took off.
That action alone, proved to me, that it was armed with a camera.

She asked for my details and the when and where and time of the incident.

I gave my details and retold the story and she told me that she would pass it on but that there was little that they could do as drones weren't illegal but what I did was.
She told me that I would be culpable for damage to person or property had I have been successful in my attempt to break it.

I was dumbfounded, I felt like I was the culprit and not the one of many that had been violated.

She told me that if it happens again not to do anything silly and to just call them again.

I was angry and said " you want me to call back just to be told the same thing again, that there's not much you can do and that it's me that's in danger of being charged"?

She replied with " I will pass it on, can I help you with anything else?

I've had a few hours to cool off and to chill a little but the realisation is, our privacy and drone spying is of no interest to our police whatsoever and these
voyeurs will carry on aware of the fact that they will be unpunished or even ever having to come to face charges.
 
bear66 said:
Laws are much stricter in the UK. Can't fly within 50m of a building and filming can't break privacy laws.
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Cheers mate, I'm still stewing over it.
It's way past my bedtime on account of the Boro not playing but I'm somewhat gobsmacked and probably won't get much sleep tonight.
I can't get over the lack of interest by the police and their warnings towards me.

They didn't even ask how far away was the drone to the building, but, it was only a metre or so out of my reach when i tried to swat it, which contravenes your laws.
Don't know about Australias .
Will check tomorrow.
 
Austrailian Civil Aviation rules.......I guess you would need to complain on the "closer than 30m to people" clause?

The dos and don'ts of flying​

You must:

  • only fly one drone at a time
  • always fly your drone in visual line-of-sight — this means:
    • flying only during the day
    • avoid flying through cloud, fog or smoke
    • you can always see your drone with your own eyes — not by using goggles, binoculars or another device
    • not flying behind obstacles that stop you from always seeing your drone. For example, trees, buildings or other structures.
You must not fly your drone:

  • higher than 120 m (400 ft) above ground level — that's about the height of a 35-storey building or length of a football field
  • closer than 30 m to people — other than those helping to control or navigate your drone
  • over or above people at any time or height
  • in a way that creates a hazard to another person, property or aircraft
  • near emergency operations
  • in prohibited or restricted airspace (use a CASA-verified drone safety app to help you)
  • closer than 5.5 km to a controlled airport, which usually has a control tower, if your drone weighs more than 250 g. You can operate indoors provided the drone can’t get out of the building. If you’re a ReOC holder, please see more information on flight authorisations.
 
During the first lockdown we had a drone come over our house in Normanby. The drone travelled at the back of gardens pausing a while and then moving off into other roads before doing the same.

I reported this to the police, they took my details and a little bit of back ground on what had happened. I later found out that the drone was being operated by the police to make sure people followed social distancing.

I have nothing to hide from the police and would welcome any kind of surveillance if it is going to keep our property safe.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
During the first lockdown we had a drone come over our house in Normanby. The drone travelled at the back of gardens pausing a while and then moving off into other roads before doing the same.

I reported this to the police, they took my details and a little bit of back ground on what had happened. I later found out that the drone was being operated by the police to make sure people followed social distancing.

I have nothing to hide from the police and would welcome any kind of surveillance if it is going to keep our property safe.
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If the drone was flown within 50m of people then this may well be illegal. I suggest that you ask the police to investigate themselves.
 
JackG said:
If the drone was flown within 50m of people then this may well be illegal. I suggest that you ask the police to investigate themselves.
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I think they could have argued that it was 50m away from people. It never stopped directly over our garden and was always well above the house.

When I rung up about it though, it did stop.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
I think they could have argued that it was 50m away from people. It never stopped directly over our garden and was always well above the house.

When I rung up about it though, it did stop.
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I'm slightly torn by this Norman and don't know how I would feel about it if it was me.

On one hand, it is great to see that they were enforcing the social distancing guidelines, BUT does a family not merit some privacy in their own private garden?
 
weemoby said:
I'm slightly torn by this Norman and don't know how I would feel about it if it was me.

On one hand, it is great to see that they were enforcing the social distancing guidelines, BUT does a family not merit some privacy in their own private garden?
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I totally agree and had similar conversations regarding the situation with the wife. I think at the time I was more relieved that it was the police and not something more sinister. You do have to ask though where do you draw the line regarding big brother watching you and what right do the police have to be looking in private gardens.
 
Thanks for your thoughts and info guys.

Not that I was asked about the distance of the drone from the Marriott or whether I knew the location of the operator, but even if
I knew that and saw where it finally landed, The culprit would have been long gone by the time the police would've arrived.
I guess the police would have to catch them in the act and confiscate the camera to check it's contents.
I suppose that's why the police had told me that there wasn't much that they could do.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
what right do the police have to be looking in private gardens.
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To extend it further, would you be happy if the police looked over your fence? Or through your window, just to see what was going on?

Surely they should only be able to do that if they have some suspicion - flying a drone over private gardens should come under the same rules.
 
red_harrington said:
To extend it further, would you be happy if the police looked over your fence? Or through your window, just to see what was going on?

Surely they should only be able to do that if they have some suspicion - flying a drone over private gardens should come under the same rules.
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I mentioned above that I wouldn't be happy for this to happen but was glad it wasn't something more sinister. I did read somewhere that they need to inform residents that they are in use and this is covered by the yellow sign they display at take off (see link).

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1057569317932113
 
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