Idk if anyone had a similar problem before, but I live in EU by the countryside, at first there were only a few but now it happens more and more often to see drones passing over my house, I am sure they are civilian drones because law enforcement has no reason to use them since the area is quiet (and honestly I doubt they would be able to do so), however it bothers me enough to know that there are people who get over the fence and enter my property going to look at what they want, does anyone have any advice on what to do?
I think you have the legal right to prohibit flying above your property. Do it, make a sign and report everyone who violates it to the police. Flying on someone’s property with a camera drone is illegal anyways.
EDIT: Also check if you legally can physically eliminate the drone in that case. It’s the most effective strategy.
OP is in EU, but here in the US property owners do not have rights to airspace.
However, spying with cameras or nuisance noise would be reasons for legal action.
Could I shoot one down if it were spying on me?
Not in the US. You can report it to the police and the FAA, but it’s a federal felony offense to shoot down any aircraft, regardless of whether it’s a $100 drone or multi-million dollar full on airplane. But like the other poster said, voyeurism and harassment laws still apply. And also, if the pilot is out of sight of the drone, that’s a hefty FAA violation (assuming they don’t have a specific FAA waiver that’s hard to get) and something you can report.
In the US, you own the airspace up to the highest point of your property, including structures (and maybe trees). You also technically own your underground property to the center of the earth, but you may not have mineral rights to it.
Honest question, but I couldn’t help but package it sarcastically:
How would you report that? Catch the drone and ask who it’s owner is? Ask the police to do a 100 man wide area search around your house?
New drones being sold in the USA are equipped with something called remote ID. In theory, it enables law enforcement to wirelessly identity the drone, who it’s registered with, and where the pilot is standing. This is very new though, and very few, if any, police departments have the tools needed to make use of it. It’s also possible to read remote ID from phones, but without the database, it only gives you so much info. Owners of older drones are supposed to attach a remote ID module to them in order to maintain legal flying, but someone being voyeuristic with their older drone probably isn’t following the rules.
That’s incorrect. At least as a generalization. For example: In The Netherlands, you do not own the airspace above your property. The EU laws for drones do state that you can’t just film people without permission, though. Operators of camera drones also need to register and get an operator id.
Hmm it isn’t the first reply that says it so I guess airspace isn’t owned by the property owner in the EU. Very unfortunate but not that big of a deal. I hope at least shooting down a camera drone can be considered self defense there.
This works if they fly low enough
Police drones. Surveillance “for your protection”
Fuck them!
Portsmouth Ohio, fat redneck throwing a bottle of shit Australian beer and the police not executing a no knock warrant and murdering him for his crimes?
I call bullshit.
He’s white, it’s okay.
You can also use an anti-drone gun
Get yourself a little beehive OP.
Every time you see a drone, report it for killing your bees, sit back and watch the EU busybodies go fuckin mental about it
The cunt who’s doing it will be in The Hague within a week 😂
Drone pilot from Germany here, they have no place hovering over your property, more strictly even they’re not allowed to fly in any way that allows them to view your garden from above. You can shoot down the drone and it’s their problem note that this is in Germany not the US (which surprised me tbh).
However, that said, could be that it’s the same pilot again and again, even if it’s different birds. Normally they are very cooperative, just ask them to stop and they’ll apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Since op didn’t mention seeing a pilot, I’d suspect that the drones are flown out of sight. So asking them to stop can be difficult. Of course asking nicely, by downing a drone, might get the message across.
I wonder if I could shoot down drones here in Denmark as well.
FAA Certified drone pilot in the USA here. That’s wild. In the US it’s illegal to shoot down an aircraft of any sort no matter the type or who is flying it. And also, the Federal Aviation Administration is the only authority in the US when it comes to airspace, and as long as you have authorization from the FAA or are in uncontrolled space, you can fly over anyone’s property. However, that doesn’t give you the right to voyeurism or harassment. If you are intentionally spying on things that are normally considered private (peeking in a window, for instance) or repeatedly or specifically bugging a specific individual or family, then you can still be charged with those crimes. Also, unless you have a specific waiver that’s rather hard to get, you have to be within line of sight of your drone. If the drone pilot is not following the rules, they can be hit with hefty fines. Even though drones can be bought easily, there’s still strict rules that the FAA has for both recreational and professional flying, and anyone operating a drone outside those can and should be reported.
FAA Certified drone pilot in the USA here. That’s wild. In the US it’s illegal to shoot down an aircraft of any sort
That’s even wilder to me, since you have several states where you are allowed to shoot anyone trespassing on your property, but a drone, who can record and video and infringe on your privacy is illegal?!
That’s like prime capitalism. Human lives are worthless, but don’t damage my property. What?
It’s all about property rights here. You can always just make more people, right?
It’s because it counts as an aircraft. Getting licenced to use your drone for anything more than “wooo, flyin mah drone” covers a lot of the same stuff a private pilot would know like reading the maps, airport landing procedure, and airspace. They treat it like an actual airplane. And you can’t just start blasting at airplanes because they flew over your house. If it’s doing more than just flying over it has to be addressed legally.
Yeah, that’s fair. I think the main reasoning is that shooting something out of the air can cause it to crash on people or light stuff on fire. I also don’t like the “stand your ground” and “castle doctrine” laws, so I think both shooting people and shooting drones should be illegal.
The best bet is to let your local aviation authority know. They are generally the ones with the actual powers, as well as the knowledge to apply them.
At least in the UK, the laws cover anything that leaves the ground under an open sky. There are exceptions for RC toys and drones, but they have limits. One of the limits is you cannot fly within a certain distance of anyone or anything not under your control.
Basically, most places require your permission to fly over, or near to your land. If they are overflying, they are breaking the rules.
It’s worth noting, depending on the size of the system, it can be difficult to judge distances. The ones I work with are large. We regularly have officials insisting we are massively out of our flight area. GPS logs show that it was well within the entire time.
Apparently, old-fashioned spark radios can disrupt comms for consumer drones. There are kits for people who are interested in learning about early radio tech.
I’ve not verified this myself.
causing RF interference on purpose is definitely illegal wherever this person lives
Not on the civilian spectrum, surely?
NAL, but this is about ‘authorized radio communications’, which to me seems like the GSM/LTE spectrum and GPS and similar, not the civilian one, please correct me if I’m wrong as I’m not sure about the scope of the ‘authorized comms’ term.
Also, OP is in the EU, so laws may differ significantly here.
I would go and have a look around, because usually they would be close by and ask them. I gly drones for 10+ years and if it’s a sports drone, it’s annoying and they should be pretty close. If it’s a dji (slow moving around) they might be just nosy assholes.
I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they just fly there because like you said it’s in the middle of nowhere. But flying over a house or property on purpose is not only a dick move, it’s also dangerous annoying for all sides.
Get a pellet gun and shoot them down. You’ll find out quickly who is doing it when they trespass on your property to retrieve their downed hardware.
No, ignore this. Never shoot guns into the air, it’s both dangerous and stupid.
Unless it’s a shotgun firing birdshot. This is why in many places you can hunt birds, it’s really the only type of firearm you’re allowed to use, because when shot at an upward trajectory, the pellets do not maintain enough velocity to be harmful when coming down and harmlessly fall to the ground. Anything rifled though is a different story, because its that spin on a bullet or a slug which allows the projectile to maintain its velocity and be dangerous when coming back down.
Sure, but most people probably don’t know that detail. Hunters probably do, but for your average dumbass a simple “don’t shoot any guns into the air” rule is probably for the best.
True but it also depends on where you go. In Canada for example, this detail is explicitly taught to anyone who goes through the process of getting a firearms license.
Someone manufactures anti-drone shells for shotguns. No idea how they’re supposed to work (of if they do), just thought it was interesting.
That is interesting, I’m curious what the payload is.
Pellet gun, that travels like 100m at most.
I guess that’s fine if you live on a large isolated property. Where I am, the neighbor’s house is like 3.5m away.
Just looked it up for Germany: over residential areas you need either “an explicit permission of the owner”, or “it is very light (<250g) and has no ability to record video, audio or radio” or “it is more then 100m above ground, not in the night and some other fingerprint” [1].
In all EU you actually need a registration on your some clearly visible [2].
So, of they are below 100m or in the night, just call the authorities. If you live a bit outside it might just not clear from above that it’s private property.
[1] https://dipul.de/homepage/en/information/geographical-zones/legal-basis/#accordion-1-6 [2] https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/light/topics/travelling-drones
I’m not sure for the EU but in the USA the airspace above your private property is public domain and since drones are classified as aircraft they are entitled do fly over your property just as an airplane or helicopter might. When a drone is being used to record and surveillance it depends on local jurisdiction.
This is the first search result that came up for me, and claiming the opposite
That site is full of false claims with zero sources to back up those claims which is pretty funny seeing as that article is claiming to be written by a retired corporate attorney. The site is also chocked full of SEO tricks which is possible why it was the first result that came up for you. For example on 5. the word drone is stealthily a link to another irrelevant article about drone deliveries on a different as sketchy site. Link hiding is a well known trick to gain the system and bump up your page.
there’s a software package floating around to hijack drones and remote control them yourself. it might be time to test the drone’s security capabilities
Just launch your own drone and go say hi.
Here is a great defcon talk that might give you some ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CzURm7OpAA
- Step 1. Get the loudest, most assertive dog possible (as long as it never bites people).
- Step 2. Install a doggie-door.
- Step 3. Train it to wreck drones that land inside the fence perimeter.
hide the bodies under the deck
