PRIVACY INVASION?

[dronepilotbob]

I don't know I have a daughter and I couldn't do what you did there.

Personally, I like to stay away from humans as much as possible when flying. You never know when the bird can just drop from the sky.

 

[E90RAW]

This subject is near and dear to me. My daughter began driving at the age of 16 but there were well known and agreed upon conditions. She would be tracked until she turned 18 and the method of tracking was her iPhone and a tracking device/monitor installed by the insurance company and monitored by me (app) and the insurance company. Both devices left a very solid digital trail and it was truly not a matter of trust but enforcement. The tracking would end immediately if she so desired; all she had to do was return the keys. The upside, along with having to drive with me 50 hours (state requirement), no passengers under the age of 25 (state and daddy required) for the first year. Second year she could have passenger but not in front seat and NEVER boys (a teen male in the passenger seat increase the likelihood of a fatal accident by 67%). The tracking did have a bonus, her acceleration and braking speed were monitored closely by the insurance company and at the end of the first year they gave her a very nice Amazon Gift Card $100 for maintaining over 90% rating on her abilities. Tracking was not without issues however; planned events with Mom went off and Dad didn't know and suddenly she was someplace I was unaware of and panic jumps in.. but not once did she betray the rules of the road or agreement on the tracking and everyone made and effort to keep me posted on changes I didn't know about. End result personally was tracking your daughter/son sucks past the initial 12 months.. 18 was the agreed upon period and I can tell you it causes mirada of stress.. I cut the tracking on the phone the last few months of the last year. FREEDOM for her and me!!

Nicely written post.

 

[hiflyer201]

Tracking with a drone. You would have to live in a very small town. I think the mini teaches us that.
cameras are invasive but you can’t go to the gas station without being on camera

 

[PointJoe]

That you even wondered about the propriety of your “spying,” suggests you should refrain ... especially since your kids are good kids. Now you can share the laugh, but not if it becomes a regularity ...

 

[Jack Ray]

OK now you’ve had your fun....
Now it’s probably a good idea to mind your own business. Even kids are due their privacy, mutual trust is what parenting should be about.
JMHO....

 

[Jack Ray]

Ever wonder if your spouse is cheating on you?

If you have to ask that question...
Then Yes probably so. ?

 

[Dbez1]

No matter what they say on utube, my MM can be heard at 200’ on a calm day. Your daughter may already be aware..

 

[Capt KO]

I feel for ya. My daughter was on restrictions from 13th birthday till she left for college. Lol the stories she tells me of what she got away with were a shock. Had to track her down often. (No drone) ?
She's now a ministers wife of 30 yrs with 4 kids and 4 grandkids of her own. Who'ed a thunk. ?
My son was trouble free.

 

[Capt KO]

No matter what they say on utube, my MM can be heard at 200’ on a calm day. Your daughter may already be aware..

Doubt it, face stuck to phone. ??

 

[bmwbob]

I flew my mini by some houses on a hill near me and the local neighborhood internet sight erupted with "they're spying on me" reports! Needless to say at 400 feet there was no spying going on, but the pro and con drone threads went wild for a couple days. There were calls to contact the sheriff or any agency that could stop the intrusion or shot the drone down! Drone pilots explained the 107 rules and that it's legal to fly over houses, but not people or events. Drone pilots explained that drones are the least of their spy problems with Google, Seri and smartphone listening to everything you say.

 

[Capt KO]

I flew my mini by some houses on a hill near me and the local neighborhood internet sight erupted with "they're spying on me" reports! Needless to say at 400 feet there was no spying going on, but the pro and con drone threads went wild for a couple days. There were calls to contact the sheriff or any agency that could stop the intrusion or shot the drone down! Drone pilots explained the 107 rules and that it's legal to fly over houses, but not people or events. Drone pilots explained that drones are the least of their spy problems with Google, Seri and smartphone listening to everything you say.

Let them know that the law is changing and soon they'll be spying on the drones instead of the other way around. Bummer ?

 

[jpzend125]

Not an easy issue. Does the government have the right to monitor the streets with a drone? Is it the same as cameras? Crime control vs.privacy. Where can anyone draw the line? Yesterday, i flew my new M2Z (last one i ditched in the Hudson, remember?) for the first time and I hovered at about 125 ft above the woods directly next to my house (never flew over any houses or people) and left it there for several minutes to make sure everything was working. During that time I could see houses and streets. A couple were talking and I could see people moving around on their deck. It weirded me out. I felt uncomfortable and feel it was wrong. That's just me. I like seeing sights and taking pics.

The bottom line is this issue and others will be used to try to ground us...and that is sad for those of us who follow the rules and have some consideration for others.

 

[E90RAW]

Not an easy issue. Does the government have the right to monitor the streets with a drone? Is it the same as cameras? Crime control vs.privacy. Where can anyone draw the line? Yesterday, i flew my new M2Z (last one i ditched in the Hudson, remember?) for the first time and I hovered at about 125 ft above the woods directly next to my house (never flew over any houses or people) and left it there for several minutes to make sure everything was working. During that time I could see houses and streets. A couple were talking and I could see people moving around on their deck. It weirded me out. I felt uncomfortable and feel it was wrong. That's just me. I like seeing sights and taking pics.

The bottom line is this issue and others will be used to try to ground us...and that is sad for those of us who follow the rules and have some consideration for others.

Glad to hear your back in action with the M2Z. Stay away from the Hudson

 

[Gindra]

I think there is a huge difference between a drone that is just flying by versus one that is following and mirroring your travel. One that was tracking me would completely freak me out.

Couldn't agree more! I have security cameras installed at my office and when they were first installed I felt the temptation to look in on everything. It was creepy. And the temptation was real. You nailed it. The test has always got to be, "how would I feel if....."

I understand the need to protect our kids (or great grandkids ). And that responsibility challenges us on all kinds of levels. I appreciate the OP's attitude displayed in his post. Asking the question "when is it spying?" is a good starting place for all of us who take to the air.

We've all heard of idiots who are actively looking in neighbors' yards or even their windows. And I assume that none of us here would cross those obvious lines. But applying this acid-test of "how would I feel if..." will keep us from crossing more nebulous lines.

 

[Peter Brazil]

Interesting subject... kinda veers away from the usual drone chats here. I never did feel the need to monitor any of my 3 kids, neither when we lived in New Orleans, LA or Kingwood, TX. Even less so when we lived in Denmark. And it never crossed my mind when living here in Brazil, in a state that is famous for its levels of violence. We always had all our meals together, talked to each other about everything and the kids were always well aware of what they could or could not do. My rule to them was: "If you can come home and openly tell us what you did, no problem... If you feel you wouldn't be able to tell - don't do it"... It worked for us. Kids now in their 30's and following the same philosophy... being close and open. Y'all have a great week -

 

[Peter Brazil]

On the drone subject. I have absolutely no interest in even having people in my photos or videos. I love the drone to have a bird's eye view of open areas, forests, etc. I use it a lot to fly over my property to check for fallen trees and take photos of trees that are blooming. Here is the very first video I recorded with the MM. Will improve my skills and make a real nice one soon.

 

[BerndM]

The Flying Camera is a HUGE concern for many in our society and rightfully so. If it's that easy for you to "track" your daughter it's also that easy for a bad player to do the same or worse.

Aerial tracking is most certainly a privacy issue however, most drones usually have a max of a 20 minute total flight time. Given that half of that time most likely will be needed to return home, there isn't a lot of tracking you can do in the short 10 minutes you have before you have to start bringing the drone back. Just sayin'........

 

[bcfd29]

Have you considered wearing a wig, and perhaps a fake mustache?

wrapping aluminum foil around your head will help with blocking the signals...

 

[BigAl07]

Aerial tracking is most certainly a privacy issue however, most drones usually have a max of a 20 minute total flight time. Given that half of that time most likely will be needed to return home, there isn't a lot of tracking you can do in the short 10 minutes you have before you have to start bringing the drone back. Just sayin'........

Flight Time is unimportant in tracking etc. Also you've got to keep in mind that just because DJI aircraft only have 20-30 min flight times (at the moment) there are many others out there that could have much longer flight times. Think BIG PICTURE well outside of the Mavic/Phantom box.

 

[LongWindFPV]

...Followed her to her friends house (she never told me she was going there). Then to another house, and then be popping around the neighborhood.
.... So, what is the limit. When does it become "spying".
...What do you think?

You may want to go through all of her personal items in her bedroom and look for any loose floorboards, secret cubby holes in her closet. Just to be sure she isn't the local community drug dealer or mule. *Kidding* Anyhow, you already answered your own question. It's spying when you follow and track. Occasional cars and dog walkers as you pan camera, that's sightseeing. Focusing on a dog walker for longer than a glance, zooming in to catch him/her reaching behind to pull a handful of buttmunch out of their crack and recording it on video, that's spying. Common sense stuff.

Pretty sure your locality has a published rule that dictates the minimum altitude for flying a drone, and which specifically emphasizes residential areas and reasonable right to privacy. Here in Vegas, the minimum is 275 feet. Ceiling as we all know everywhere is 400. Reasonable Right To Privacy, and in conjunction with locality and FAA rules and plain common sense should already define certain and acceptable behaviors for an R/C pilot. In your case, you let your entitlement and curiosity as a parent to a child, override the first and foremost intent/goal of owning and piloting a drone, which is just simple enjoyment and recreation of flight. If you have to wonder about your kid while flying a drone, you're greatly missing the point. ...I'm sorry if that sounds preachy and lecturous. lol. Not trying to be. The alternative to what I've already spewed, was, KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Enjoy your **** flight brother. Tracking/Spying and wondering implies way too many, extraneous, thoughts on your mind, distracting from your focus piloting an R/C aircraft. But, *I GET IT*, perhaps you saw this an opportunity to practice a different non-boring piloting skill which is, quite frankly, tracking. A tremendous word.

Personally, I'd practice on more exciting objects, such as anyone with an ATV out in a remote area kicking up some dirt, group of cyclists charging down an open remote road (with their permission), moving train at the outskirts of town, stuff like that, that results in some great video footage. Daughter zipping around the hood? Well, if you're just in the habit of discharging your batteries for no practical purpose then, you probably did great. Did you zoom in on her scalp to see if she's flaking and shedding? hehe.