As drones become more popular concerns are being raised that current laws don’t protect people from being filmed in the privacy of their own homes.
As the small aerial devices moved off the battlefields and onto the shelves, complaints have risen about people being filmed in their own backyards, on public beaches and through their apartment windows.
Recently Melbourne grandmother, Mandy Lingard, 50, was filmed by a drone why she was sun-baking in a G-string in her own backyard. The image ended up on a real estate billboard.
Speaking to the Herald Sun she said she couldn’t believe the photo had ended up there.
Mandy Lingard, 50, (pictured) image ended up on a real estate billboard after a drone filmed her
She was featured on a for sale billboard outside a Mt Martha home, south-east of Melbourne, after a real estate agent’s drone snapped the photos several weeks ago (pictured)
‘You could see it’s our backyard and quite clearly it was me.
‘It’s in the real estate magazine, it’s on the internet and on the board and I’m really embarrassed.
‘My son has noticed it and he’s embarrassed that his mum is there.’
The billboard was quickly taken down but not before Ms Lingard had felt violated.
Last year, Darwin resident Karli Hyatt, told the ABC that she had been filmed by a drone while she was skinny dipping in her own back yard.
‘I was just finished at the gym actually, and I’d come home and decided to go for a bit of a swim… as I was swimming I could hear this strange noise, and when I looked up I noticed a drone with the green and red flashing lights.
Eview real estate took the billboard down from the property at 552 Esplande, Mt Martha, on Monday
‘It came over into my backyard and then just hovered centre above the pool, and just hovered there for about 30 to 60 seconds.’
There are concerns that images and videos of people being filmed in these private moments could end up online, shared around porn sites or social media and used for malicious intent.
Drones cost as little as $50 and most come fitted with a video camera. Not only are they affordable they’re also popular – futurists predict there will be one billion of them in the skies by 2030.
And while recreational drone use is rinsing across Australia the laws surrounding privacy remain fairly loose.
Another Darwin woman was filmed skinny dipping in the pool in her backyard (stock)
Matthew Craven, a partner at the law firm HWL Ebsworth, who has researched and written about drone privacy issues spoke to CHOICE in May about
‘I am not aware of any case in Australia where a private individual has successfully taken action against a drone pilot for breaching their privacy, whether under the Privacy Act or under any other law,’ Craven tells us.
He said that unless the pilot of the drone is working for a company that turns of $3million in annual revenue it’s impossible for someone to take action against them under the Privacy Act.
‘Depending on the conduct and how the drone has been flown, other laws, such as trespass to property, may provide an avenue for redress in certain circumstances,’ Craven said.
As drones become more popular more people are complaining about privacy (stock)
While harassment and stalking are illegal activities it’s difficult to record drone movements and establish a pattern – essentially making catching someone using a drone to commit these crimes impossible.
After Ms Hyatt was filmed swimming she said had no idea how to respond because the legality around it is so unclear.
‘I mean, all I’ve really heard about a drones is that they are not allowed to go up at a certain height if you live in a flight zone area. Aside from that, I really don’t know.’
Peter Gibson of the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority told ACA that privacy was not covered in the rules for recreational drone use.
After Ms Hyatt was filmed swimming she said had no idea how to respond because the legality around it is so unclear (pictured)
‘But the rules are simple – things like, stay more than 30 metres away from other people at all times, stay more than five and a half kilometres from airports, never fly your drone anywhere near an aircraft,’ he said.
Fines of up to $10,000 are levied for breaches of these rules.
One option for protecting privacy is to track drones through installed sim cards that upload their flying history onto a database.
US company DroneShield has also developed a ‘drone gun’ which can scramble a drone’s circuits and force it to land.