I think this was nicely done, albeit a little long.
The Reality of Drone Stalking
When reporting "DRONE STALKING" consider that just because you see a drone over your property the probability of you actually being stalked is extremely low. Drone flights are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and because of their rules, drones can not fly higher than 400 feet over terrain. That means that for anyone flying a drone and following regulations their flight altitude MUST be lower than 400 feet above your property. They are not flying low because they want to, they just don't want to tangle with the FAA.
The FAA claims airspace from the ground to well beyond 70,000 feet. That's right.....you do not own or control the space above your property. This means that when a drone is legally operated it can be very low over your property..... legally. If you are paranoid, the drone may be stalking you, if not, someone very near-by is enjoying their hobby. A new map put out by the FAA shows actual altitude to be flown in the (
insert your location here) area. Some of the areas on the map limit flight altitudes to 400, 200, 100, even 50 feet maximum. The allowed altitude all depends on how close the drone is being flown to an airport. As a result, what you think is low flying and stalking may be a drone pilot following FAA altitude limitations for his geographic location grid.
The FAA applies the same rules to drones as full size aircraft regarding the destruction of an aircraft or drones in the FAA's airspace. Shoot anything down in the FAA's airspace and you could be in big trouble..Federal crime.....just like shooting down an airliner. Remember, as far as the FAA is concerned they own the airspace above your yard and home, even airspace over the street in front of your home. Over a million drones are registered with the FAA in the US. That means there is a high probability that you will see one flying somewhere and sometime near to your location. The probability of it having a purpose of "stalking" you is extremely low. Most important, unless the drone is one of the very expensive drones, its flight time is limited to about 25 minutes maximum between battery charges. A battery charge takes an hour. Assuming that the "stalker" is waiting for you to come outside, but does not know when you will go outside, how many 25 minute flights will the "stalker" have to make to finally catch you outside??? If you do the math you will find out that the probability of the drone being there when you are is an extremely small number. Instead, it is most likely a random encounter that brings a neighbor's hobby drone near you.
When the drone operator is flying using the attached video camera link (called first person video) he or she sees an image of what the drone camera "sees" on a mini-IPAD size display on his or her control transmitter. If the drone altitude is 200 feet, you are a very very small object on the display, given that the field of view of the video camera is usually greater than 120 degrees. Your image is not a highly detailed, or high resolution, image, and there is not enough detail to identify you by name in a random encounter, based on facial recognition. Lets assume that you are being stalked and the drone is flying at low altitude of 25 feet. The drone operator has to worry about losing his or her $1,000 to $5,000 drone because of a tree strike, or even house strike. If the operator is flying a stalking mission, the camera is centered on the subject not the trees, bushes, house, etc. which is a most dangerous flight condition. Unless the operator can see the drone (and to be legal they must be able to see the drone) they are depending on a video camera with a 130 degree field of view to avoid these "drone killers" on your property that occupy the other 230 degree "blind region" around the drone.
Hopefully, if you have read this far you are starting to get the picture that for a number of reasons, there is a low probability that you are being stalked just because you see a drone. Wave at a drone and you will most likely attract the drone operators attention, as a moving target does stand out from the fairly boring landscape, and the operator may come closer to investigate what the moving target is and what it is doing. Now, if you are laying out by your pool and a drone comes down to 25 or 30 feet directly overhead, you have been spotted and you are being observed and most likely photographed or video taped. Is your privacy being invaded? Maybe not, maybe so. It all depends on the laws that apply to your rights to privacy in your fenced or not fenced back yard. Would a neighbor video taping you, from his property, over the pool privacy fence be an invasion of privacy under the laws that apply??? If yes, then the drone at 25 feet above your pool would be invading your privacy legally speaking. Please don't forget, the drone operator has rights to fly over your property just like a full size aircraft and the rules that ensure these rights are enforced by the FAA.
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