Neighbour upset for flying next to his property.

[Lubelaczek]

I have been testing some new options and filters today using Mission Hub on Litchi. Did 3 flights less than 2 minutes each, and then heard knocking on my door. My neighbor announced to me that his wife is upset by my drone flying above his property. I said politely that I am sorry and this will not happened again. Long story short, we shake hands and... I went back to check the log. No surprise to me there. Mavic never crossed his property line (marked with red). I was flying along the road at roughly 200' next to his fence, 100% of the time within LOS.

I thought this is perfectly legal in this case and I still think it is. Correct me please, if I am wrong. When I went back to him, we talked, showed him a log. I was as polite as possible and he was willing to talk. Yet his wife (60+) was still on highest point of ballistic. Regardless. I did make him aware that this was not my intention to upset anyone and I am not going ever to enter air space directly above his property. We shake hands again and this should be end of story. That is what I hope...
Now the question is: If I ever fly within my property perimeter, next to his or anybody else fence or along the road as shown on screen-shot, is there any ground to blame me for breaking law or because of so called "privacy"?
Truth is I will probably never fly again on my backyard as long as he lives here. Just want to be prepared for any more clowns with nothing else to do, will show up on my doorsteps...

 

[tcope]

I thought this is perfectly legal in this case and I still think it is. Correct me please, if I am wrong.

Your location makes all the difference.... in the world.

 

[MTUFLYER28]

As far as I know there is nothing illegal about flying over other people's property in the US. if so it would be interesting to see how they differentiate between general air traffic and hobby flying. it is important to know local laws which may have specific rules against drones... I too am curious what other people have encountered. I did have an encounter with an older gentleman that expresses his dislike of the thought I might be recording the neighborhood. Unfortunately the news gives people a false understanding of the intent and capabilities of most consumer drones so people generally default to worst fears.

 

[Chunter]

i wouldn't want anyone over my house, its not the fact you're over his house its the fact you can see into his garden, even if you're not directly over his garden you could technically film him/them,admittedly she was probably only ranting through fearmongering learnt on the internet but still its not nice thinking that someone may or may not be filming you i the privacy of your own garden.
Not having a go at you just "sayin"

 

[reckless]

Just tell them you are doing "Aerial Neighborhood Watch" and thought you might have seen someone entering the property illegally so you went for a look, for their safety and the safety of the neighborhood.
Then send them an invoice for security services rendered

 

[Lubelaczek]

Your location makes all the difference.... in the world.

What do you mean by that? I am not sure if I understand your comment.

As far as I know there is nothing illegal about flying over other people's property in the US. if so it would be interesting to see how they differentiate between general air traffic and hobby flying. it is important to know local laws which may have specific rules against drones... I too am curious what other people have encountered. I did have an encounter with an older gentleman that expresses his dislike of the thought I might be recording the neighborhood. Unfortunately the news gives people a false understanding of the intent and capabilities of most consumer drones so people generally default to worst fears.

Actually it is "gray area" without owners consent. Technically land owner does not own air space directly above, FAA is in control of that (as far as I know).
It is not nice and polite to peek into others windows and gardens, but is it illegal when I am passing by in my car? Why should be perceived any other way when drone flies by. I was not hovering in that area, not even for a second. Just making aerial view of the my house by orbiting along the local roads.
Here is funny part. When I watched over my footage after neighbor visit, to make sure what happened, I noticed his wife taking pictures of me!!! I was sitting on my second floor deck, widely exposed, watching drone flyby, and she was hiding in the cypress trees, recording me doing that Who is spying now?!
I did say it somewhere else. Taking picture or recording video from public location is not invading privacy. Making it public by posting in public media (inet, local newspaper or tv) is. That is the difference most of the people tend to not understand.

i wouldn't want anyone over my house, its not the fact you're over his house its the fact you can see into his garden, even if you're not directly over his garden you could technically film him/them,admittedly she was probably only ranting through fear mongering learnt on the internet but still its not nice thinking that someone may or may not be filming you i the privacy of your own garden.
Not having a go at you just "sayin"

Totally agree, not nice. Unfortunately that is reality these days. We are being scrutinized all the time... and not by the drones only... google maps, phones, computers, smart TVs...

 

[pixeltim]

I like to put people at ease about what a drone can do and what most of us use them for.
I send them to my website where they can see that I'm not some creepy guy out there spying, but instead they see I'm a photographer that is just exploring the different camera angles that our new technology allows us.

PixelTim's Photo Gallery

Instead of fearing the drone, after seeing my pictures, most people become very interested in it.

 

[Ping^Spike]

What do you mean by that? I am not sure if I understand your comment.

I think what @tcope means is, where do you live mate?!

 

[Lubelaczek]

I think what @tcope means is, where do you live mate?!

I was reading that late in the night. I get it now. In my area (NY, Long Island; Suffolk) according to my knowledge, we are not allowed to fly over land without owner permission.

...Instead of fearing the drone, after seeing my pictures, most people become very interested in it...

"More..." Hmm. Unfortunately She belongs to "Less". When I did try politely talk to her she was like broken record: "This is illegal, I have it on video". Me too and I did nothing to be afraid, I have logs and proofs. Maybe next time when she "slows" down... But I doubt. I did encounter few of this type in my life.

 

[Boog0822]

Fly over 300 feet. The MP is nearly silent at or above 300 feet.

 

[Lubelaczek]

This one is paranoid "to and beyond horizon". I did fly above 200 straight up, but she was "alerted" by lunch and landing. Did it 3 times to test all 3 new filters. She was not able to locate it at first and second launch so started to record me sitting on the second story deck widely visible, like on the stage. Third time during lunch she was hiding in cypress trees next to fence. That is how she spotted it. Pathetic.

 

[TheWolfen]

So, ironically, she was the only one deliberately invading someone else's privacy? Crazy! I don't think you will ever be able to change her mind. Some people really don't care about reality.

 

[MisterMavic]

You can explain it to some people until you're blue in the face and they just won't get it. Most people like that have their preconceived impression of drones and you won't change their opinion. It's nice when you encounter those few who after learning more about the hobby actually show an interest. You will find it right here in this forum, those same people who want people to change peoples views on drones will swear up and down that DJI is the devil reincarnated and you will never sway their views.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I think most people fail to understand that unless mavic is close enough for you to spray with a garden hose your face is likely not recognizable.

 

[NetDoc]

The territorial imperative of our species is amazingly strong. I was snorkeling in Florida bay (N side of Tavernier here in the Florida Keys) with a friend. There were scads of lobsters hiding among the sea wall by the homes on the water. We had been out about ninety minutes and were on the home approach to the Homeowner's Park where we went in at. So this guy walks out and loudly proclaims "I don't want to create a hassle, but out there's yours and this is mine!" After the third time repeating it and with my friend nervously heading further out, I asked him directly. "What do you think we're doing wrong here?" "Nothing, and you're making this into a hassle which I didn't want! Just remember..." to which I cut him off with a "Stow it, mister! Call the police if you think we're breaking any laws. My conversation with you is over!" You just can't reason with an unreasonable person!

So, I'm practicing doing flyovers on my neighbor hood and made certain that I came down and took a good look off of his sea wall. Lots of pretty fishies and sure enough, I see him waving his arms at my drone like a monkey on speed. 2 phreakin' phunni. However, there's nothing there I really want to see, so I'll play elsewhere. I'm not going to give in to this neighborhood bully, but I'm not going to court disaster either.

 

[DavidB4775]

Since you are comfortable enough to talk to your neighbor (sometimes a rare commodity these days), you might consider inviting him/her over to watch next you go up. For especially older people, unknowns and unfamiliarity can invoke stress and fear. That way, they will feel included and they will see on your screen that its really hard to see details from 200 feet.

 

[Lubelaczek]

Good idea, worth a try...

 

[Noleafclover1337]

So, I have a similar story. This happened a few years ago when I was new to quads. My first one was a $40 toy drone. You know, one of the cheap syma walmart ones that goes like 50 feet in any direction. Anyways, I was flying (perhaps a little too late at night, whatever) in my backyard with a few people one night. Kept it on my property and was just hovering around a bit. A week later the cops show up at my door, saying that the neighbors had "video evidence" of me "filming their young daughter with a drone outside her window." I literally laughed and told them it didn't have a camera on it, to show me the evidence because I really wanted to see what the video looked like. They obviously wouldn't show it to me, because it didn't happen. Anyways, after laughing in their face they told me that I could be looking at an invasion of privacy suit if I don't stop and they left. I think they were private investigators but I never caught their jurisdiction.

Anyways, long story short, neighbors will be paranoid about drones. I think it's fear of the unknown and the way the media portrays them as being suspicious or dangerous, which is really too bad. If you don't care about what your neighbors think of you, there really isn't much they can do about it besides rant and rave and throw their hands up. Cops will threaten you too with fake claims so probably a good idea to keep your flight logs and recordings when flying in neighborhoods (to show you're not doing anything wrong). If they come over to you again I would tell them you are breaking no laws, however he is now by trespassing on your property, and you advise him to route all complaints to the town moving forward. Just my .02.

 

[erkme73]

The territorial imperative of our species is amazingly strong. I was snorkeling in Florida bay (N side of Tavernier here in the Florida Keys) with a friend. There were scads of lobsters hiding among the sea wall by the homes on the water. We had been out about ninety minutes and were on the home approach to the Homeowner's Park where we went in at. So this guy walks out and loudly proclaims "I don't want to create a hassle, but out there's yours and this is mine!" After the third time repeating it and with my friend nervously heading further out, I asked him directly. "What do you think we're doing wrong here?" "Nothing, and you're making this into a hassle which I didn't want! Just remember..." to which I cut him off with a "Stow it, mister! Call the police if you think we're breaking any laws. My conversation with you is over!" You just can't reason with an unreasonable person!

So, I'm practicing doing flyovers on my neighbor hood and made certain that I came down and took a good look off of his sea wall. Lots of pretty fishies and sure enough, I see him waving his arms at my drone like a monkey on speed. 2 phreakin' phunni. However, there's nothing there I really want to see, so I'll play elsewhere. I'm not going to give in to this neighborhood bully, but I'm not going to court disaster either.

Just realize that as of last year, Florida has passed a law (FS 934.50) that empowers 'victims' of drone operators with the statutory tools to sue if they feel their privacy was violated. Since it's a civil remedy, the burden of proof (showing intent to surveil) is pretty low - especially if you have a jury comprised of mostly hysterical anti-drone peers.

(5) REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION.—
(a) An aggrieved party may initiate a civil action against a law enforcement agency to obtain all appropriate relief in order to prevent or remedy a violation of this section.
(b) The owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee of privately owned real property may initiate a civil action for compensatory damages for violations of this section and may seek injunctive relief to prevent future violations of this section against a person, state agency, or political subdivision that violates paragraph (3)(b). In such action, the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees from the nonprevailing party based on the actual and reasonable time expended by his or her attorney billed at an appropriate hourly rate and, in cases in which the payment of such a fee is contingent on the outcome, without a multiplier, unless the action is tried to verdict, in which case a multiplier of up to twice the actual value of the time expended may be awarded in the discretion of the trial court.
(c) Punitive damages for a violation of paragraph (3)(b) may be sought against a person subject to other requirements and limitations of law, including, but not limited to, part II of chapter 768 and case law.
(d) The remedies provided for a violation of paragraph (3)(b) are cumulative to other existing remedies.
​

The bold part (emphasis added by me) is the dinner bell for ambulance chasing attorneys. Without that wording, very few lawyers would take such a case on contingency. But now that they see a potential profit, you get the Morgan & Morgans of the world advertising like this:



You get a neighbor ticked off enough, who happens to catch this ad, and win or lose, you lose.

​

 

[Lubelaczek]

Just realize that as of last year, Florida has passed a law (FS 934.50) that empowers 'victims' of drone operators with the statutory tools to sue if they feel their privacy was violated. Since it's a civil remedy, the burden of proof (showing intent to surveil) is pretty low - especially if you have a jury comprised of mostly hysterical anti-drone peers.

(5) REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION.—
(a) An aggrieved party may initiate a civil action against a law enforcement agency to obtain all appropriate relief in order to prevent or remedy a violation of this section.
(b) The owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee of privately owned real property may initiate a civil action for compensatory damages for violations of this section and may seek injunctive relief to prevent future violations of this section against a person, state agency, or political subdivision that violates paragraph (3)(b). In such action, the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees from the nonprevailing party based on the actual and reasonable time expended by his or her attorney billed at an appropriate hourly rate and, in cases in which the payment of such a fee is contingent on the outcome, without a multiplier, unless the action is tried to verdict, in which case a multiplier of up to twice the actual value of the time expended may be awarded in the discretion of the trial court.
(c) Punitive damages for a violation of paragraph (3)(b) may be sought against a person subject to other requirements and limitations of law, including, but not limited to, part II of chapter 768 and case law.
(d) The remedies provided for a violation of paragraph (3)(b) are cumulative to other existing remedies.
​

The bold part (emphasis added by me) is the dinner bell for ambulance chasing attorneys. Without that wording, very few lawyers would take such a case on contingency. But now that they see a potential profit, you get the Morgan & Morgans of the world advertising like this:

View attachment 17026

You get a neighbor ticked off enough, who happens to catch this ad, and win or lose, you lose.

​

One very important word - "unauthorized use". Are we unauthorized to use our legally own equipment in backyard?!
I did mentioned that before. Responsible drone operators are "invading" privacy in same way as while passing by neighbour's house and starring at his window from street level, from bike, from our car...