DRONES AND PRIVACY; A MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN?

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DRONES AND PRIVACY A MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN?
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• For some, drones and where they can and cannot be
  flown is a contentious issue, and one not without
  controversy. Take the case of an American chicken
  farmer way back in 1942, who sued the U.S.
  government for flying military aircraft on a
  runway close to his farm the farmer claimed that
  the flights were scaring his poultry and damaging
  his livelihood, and he wanted compensation.
  Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, his case made it
  to the Supreme Court in 1946 and as a direct
  result, the Court set the limits of private
  airspace if youre a property owner then your
  property rights go all the way up to 83 feet in
  the air. In fact, to this day, this remains the
  only clear federal statement of law as to how far
  above your property should legal ownership end.

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• While a drone is unmanned, the issue remains the
  same should there be more limits and penalties
  put in place for drone operators who fly above
  private property, such as nosy neighbours, police
  enforcement or Amazons delivery service?
• When privacy issues turn ugly
• In a recent incident, a Kentucky resident took a
  shotgun and fired at a drone that was flying over
  his home, destroying it, and back in 2014, a
  Jersey man did the same thing. Calls have also
  been made in recent years to the police when
  innocent civilians fear that drones are being
  used to spy on them and their property.

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• In most of these incidents, the claimant would
  need to provide clear evidence of the fact that a
  drone is either causing a nuisance close to their
  private property, or that it is guilty of
  infringing any privacy and trespassing laws, and
  that can be extremely difficult to obtain. Not
  only that, but we all have varying definitions of
  what determines a nuisance and an invasion of
  privacy, making it even harder to make a case
  against drone operators.
• What is the FAAs stance?
• Their overall stance is that any regulations to
  be made regarding air safety, should be made by
  the FAA alone, but often when drone operators are
  being

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• accused of breaching privacy rules, this comes
  under the realm of state and local authority. So,
  authority is currently divided between the
  federal government and the states, and no one has
  the authority to broadly govern and protect an
  individual or companys privacy by not allowing
  drones to fly close to their property.
• What is the future for privacy rights and drone
  use?
• If Amazon plan to start delivering packages using
  drones someday soon (and its likely to become a
  reality sooner rather than later), then its
  highly likely that they will be given the legal
  right to fly right over peoples propertys, and
  the

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• same can be said for commercial land surveyors
  who use cameras to prepare maps.
• Currently, the general rule of thumb is that if a
  drone is flying over your property but is not
  causing any harm to it, then there can be no
  cause for a damage claim and you would not have a
  case for trespassing under most state laws.
• Perhaps the most challenging aspect of drones to
  this day is striking a balance between the good
  that they can do and the many legitimate
  purposes they can be used for and the right to
  privacy.

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