Pervert and stalking fears from drones in Australia.

[Geofff]

Love this post thank you. It still perplexes me that in most situations people who complain about drones or drone operators “invading their privacy” have just spent everyday walking streets or driving their cars in their own suburbs, where majority of shops and streets have cameras ‘spying‘ on them without their consent or in some cases their knowledge. Have they been into a Kmart store. Have they bought groceries at a supermarket. Have they been to Bunnings where every move you make from the car park to entering their toilets is filmed. And don’t get me started in private cars with cameras inside that know when your phone rings. (yes that happens now) It’s just mind boggling to me that Australia is a so called free country and not withstanding the obvious stupidity of the few, it seems like drones and their pilots are just another target for revenue raising and over governing of simple enjoyment. Do not live in Victoria if you want freedom as our government want and give themselves the power and total control over every movement we make. We struggle to go somewhere without some form of policing, much less take photos of the scenery of land owned by the people. I guess some self centred people must think their own person is so special others would waste their precious battery time looking at them rather than the natural beauty of our great country. I get the feeling Australia will eventually just ban all private drones full stop. It’s the story of life, someone invents something we can have fun with and a government do gooder wants to invent a rule to restrict or control that enjoyment.
As some say, the world has seriously gone mad. Having said all that I’m off to fly my drone to film the grass in my own backyard. Hopefully the worms won’t complain.

Totally agree Prt60. Logic and knowledge are in short supply when it comes to people's fear of being spied on by drones. There will always be dic#heads but authorities think blanket bans is the way to manage it. Here in Ipswich, council has an extensive program of 'safe city' cameras and many cars on the roads with dash cams.
Unlike you, I can't fly in my backyard because I am within a NFZ so any worms here are safe.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Have they been to Bunnings where every move you make from the car park to entering their toilets is filmed.

I quoted a job for a couple of Indian fellows a couple of months ago.

I asked about their work and they said they are security at my local Bunnings.
It entailed sitting in a little room upstairs watching screens, with some very good cameras on every aisle, and yes all public locations in the store.

Told them wow, my local store, and it's so nice of Bunnies to put all those free tape measures all around the store.
Got a laugh

 

[tvdwouw]

Law makers should not make specific laws for drones and privacy. Privacy laws should be formulated in generic terms, so that any invasion of privacy is illegal.
Photos made with smartphones are more threatening in my view. But I have to admit that a drone is perceived as more threatening because the camera (wo)man is invisible most of the time.

 

[br14nh]

For me, the most telling point is the one MAvic_South_Oz made.... proper journalism relies upon getting both sides of the story, such as a statement from at least a licenced UAV operator, if not THE UAV operator that was involved. Unfortunately, that would likely have removed the opportunity for any sensationalism and spoiled the story the way they wanted to tell it..... that makes me wonder, has anyone reported this story to MediaWatch yet?? (that's a show on our ABC that picks apart examples of poor journallism, including those by the ABC)

 

[E.151]

Seems more like a promotion of said lawyers book about global ops of drones - courtesy of the Govt funded influencer channel of wokeness.
Or, is it a fictitious example to promote the book?
From experience, if a hotel is conducting maintenance such as window cleaning, they are obliged to notify the guests so they may manage their own privacy - and that is where the story began and ends.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

if a hotel is conducting maintenance such as window cleaning, they are obliged to notify the guests so they may manage their own privacy - and that is where the story began and ends.

Spot on !
Hotel management failed totally, but also has to fall partially on the drone, pilot who should have double checked / insisted occupants had been notified too.

Certainly the one side report doesn't do any of the drone community any good, commercial or recreational.

We all know that drones can be used sometimes against normal community standards by a very small number of people in the community, criminals dropping drugs / weapons etc into prisons is probably more prevalent than other acts such as this or general nuisance type operations.

How much ?
Who can honestly say, but I'd hazard a guess that in all the millions of drone flight in Australia each year, it'd probably be a tiny fraction of 1% surely ?

Hmmm, should be done, so sent feedback to ABC both Feedback section, and Complaints.

Hi, As an experienced recreational drone pilot, this story was so incorrect on many levels. Please, take 5 minutes to read through the posts here in the Australia section on MavicPilots, a Worldwide drone forum. It is self explanatory. Pervert and stalking fears from drones in Australia. Regards, . . .

 

[edcMavicPilots]

I am very pro drone so I'm not trying to be Mr. paranoid anti-drone guy.

In general, agree with the statements about it being lighter outside than inside, and that the normal field of view for a drone precludes capturing anything in detail that would matter BUT with the Mavic 3 tele the possibilities have changed quite a bit. At an effective 162mm full frame equivalent, somebody with bad intent could hover from a distance and spy on people. Window glare could thwart a pilot that doesn't understand to change the angle and avoid glare.