Ask HN: How do I stop my neighbour flying their drone over my house?

22 points by agjmills 7 years ago | 41 comments

My neighbour must have recently purchased a drone, and they fly over my garden and house relatively regularly.

It is difficult to find exactly which neighbour it is that has the drone, as I live in a relatively built up area. The drone is a DJI phantom, and has a camera attached.

Should I leave a sign in big litters on my lawn saying "please do not fly your drone here"

Or do I contact the police?

cartercole 7 years ago |

Unless they are spying on you you have little recourse... the government considers anything above your property that's navigable airspace as a public thoroughfare so they have the right to fly through it... they cant spy on your sunbathing daughter but if they catch a glimpse flying by there's nothing you can do. Its based on this case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Causby I would also suggest against taking matters into your own hands to shoot down the drone or some jamming device as messing with aircraft in flight is a big no no even if its just a little drone. its a safety thing

i cant find the original video i watched but here are some other sources https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/when-a-drone... https://phantompilots.com/threads/flying-over-private-proper... http://www.droneguru.net/can-drones-fly-over-private-propert...

mattmanser 7 years ago | |

Depends which country he's in. In the UK you're not allowed to fly them within 50m of people or property without permission.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft/Recreation...

todd8 7 years ago | |

Under the Texas Privacy Act of 2013 [1], a drone operator capturing an image of a person on private property is subject to a $5000 civil penalty. Distributing the image can result in significantly higher damages. If done to surveil it becomes a crime in addition to a civil penalty.

[1] http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB009...

qop 7 years ago |

Insane idea here, have you thought about just asking him not to?

"Hey neighbor, I was wondering if you might do me a small favor. I noticed your new drone, it's very cool. I'm sure you get lots of cool pictures and footage, but it makes me a little bit uncomfortable when you're flying over my garden and my home, do ya think you think you could still get your footage from outside of my property's airspace?

Thanks pal, I appreciate it."

cosmie 7 years ago | |

OP mentions that he doesn't know which neighbor owns the drone. If he's in a neighborhood like mine, he may only have line of sight of his most immediate neighbor and past that it could be any of dozens of other houses within close proximity.

qop 7 years ago | | |

Hm, I skimmed over that.

He may have to follow the drone home next time he sees it.

jacquesm 7 years ago |

First stop would be the municipality, to see if this can be resolved in a non-legal way, second would be the police because flying drones over built up ground is illegal in many places, finally, recording people without their consent is illegal in private space (such as your garden).

I'm not the nicest person in the world and if someone flew a drone over my garden I would ignore it but if they would hover there long enough for me to be irritated I just might attempt to bring it down.

That would at least force the owner to identify themselves and I can afford to replace the drone if ordered to do so by a judge.

bufferoverflow 7 years ago | |

> recording people without their consent is illegal in private space

Not if it's visible from the public space.

OP should check the local laws first. It's possible he had no recourse, depending on how high the drone flies. It's not like airplanes need your permission to fly over your property.

jacquesm 7 years ago | | |

The air above your garden is not exactly 'public space'.

People will put all kinds of visible barriers around their house to get some privacy, hovering your drone over those barriers is clearly a breach of sorts.

Depending on where this is happening the laws will vary but here is one example from the UK:

http://www.prettys.co.uk/drones-and-the-law

Smushman 7 years ago |

Can't we jam these signals yet?

DIY method: https://makezine.com/projects/build-wi-fi-drone-disabler-wit...

Pro Method: https://www.droneshield.com/blog-content/2017/1/14/drone-def...

Seems to me with DIY method you aren't breaking any FCC regs (uses a wifi de-auth). Still I would do it out of direct line of sight (hidden/obscured area) in case operator catches you on camera.

When you pick it up just ask them to kindly come by and pick it up.

Being nice works well when people are doing questionable things (and possession is 9/10 of the law if they are not nice in return).

eb0la 7 years ago |

I would try to target the drone and record its activity.

If you can documentos that it is flying too much over you, you can take action.

If that fails you can learn tensorflow and target the drone camera with a (low power) laser.

Don't fry the camera justo point the laser at the objective while it is flying and voila: privacy happens.

cheeze 7 years ago | |

Whatever you do, do not shine a laser into airspace. This is how you get a visit from the FAA, who do not mess around.

Raed667 7 years ago |

Depends on where you live. Check your local laws about flying drones over populated areas and houses.

pasbesoin 7 years ago |

Don't forget to film this happening, repeatedly.

If you can show it's much more than a one-off, and how low the drone is, etc., you may get a more sympathetic reaction from authorities. Whether it's the police, a court, or whatever.

In addition to drone use and behavior, specifically, many communities have nuisance laws and ordinances.

If your neighbor is making a nuisance of themself, the "drone" part may be incidental in getting the behavior to stop.

Best wishes.

P.S. For example, you may have a perfect right to use a leaf blower on your yard. But if you are compulsive with it and spend 2 - 3 hours every day blowing every last speck off your lawn and driveway, you may be found to be a nuisance.

s_m_t 7 years ago |

Bigger drone

P0l0 7 years ago |

I also have a drone if the person does not all the rules this is the best advice I have for you, record the action of the Drone,find out who it is resolve the problem with the drone pilot or the police........ obviously if somebody has a drone they should know all the rules and regulations

angryasian 7 years ago |

Like this obviously

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnjlyZf6LE

agitator 7 years ago | |

Toilet paper seems to work just fine.

http://i.imgur.com/c74fETo.gifv

holstvoogd 7 years ago | |

or try to get one of these: https://youtu.be/ccx3WOovGh0?t=43

modbait 7 years ago |

How about neighborhood flyers warning that a drone was watching your kid get dressed. That ought to do it. (Kidding, more or less.)

kevinsimper 7 years ago |

You could fly after his drone with your drone and see who it is!

owebmaster 7 years ago |

You can try to grab it for you with a net or something.

tudelo 7 years ago | |

That sounds so impractical and difficult (even impossible...). It is hilarious though to imagine what sort of reaction the drone pilot would have.

kridsdale1 7 years ago | | |

Use a net dropping drone to fly above, match its movements, and deploy.

RightMillennial 7 years ago |

Have you considered taking up the hobby of falconry?

gadders 7 years ago |

Shotgun?

RightMillennial 7 years ago | |

You'd want to be very careful with that. Shooting a gun in the air isn't the most wise choice. Not to mention that you should expect a law suit. My understanding is the results have been mixed.

jpindar 7 years ago | |

If you want to spend some time in prison. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

segmondy 7 years ago |

catapult