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Ask HN: How do I stop my neighbour flying their drone over my house?

by agjmills on 5/21/18, 11:27 AM with 41 comments

• by cartercole on 5/21/18, 6:37 PM

  Unless they are spying on you you have little recourse... the government considers anything above your property that's navigable airspace as a public thoroughfare so they have the right to fly through it... they cant spy on your sunbathing daughter but if they catch a glimpse flying by there's nothing you can do. Its based on this case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Causby I would also suggest against taking matters into your own hands to shoot down the drone or some jamming device as messing with aircraft in flight is a big no no even if its just a little drone. its a safety thing

  i cant find the original video i watched but here are some other sources https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/when-a-drone... https://phantompilots.com/threads/flying-over-private-proper... http://www.droneguru.net/can-drones-fly-over-private-propert...

• by qop on 5/21/18, 5:58 PM

  Insane idea here, have you thought about just asking him not to?

  "Hey neighbor, I was wondering if you might do me a small favor. I noticed your new drone, it's very cool. I'm sure you get lots of cool pictures and footage, but it makes me a little bit uncomfortable when you're flying over my garden and my home, do ya think you think you could still get your footage from outside of my property's airspace?

  Thanks pal, I appreciate it."

• by jacquesm on 5/21/18, 11:33 AM

  First stop would be the municipality, to see if this can be resolved in a non-legal way, second would be the police because flying drones over built up ground is illegal in many places, finally, recording people without their consent is illegal in private space (such as your garden).

  I'm not the nicest person in the world and if someone flew a drone over my garden I would ignore it but if they would hover there long enough for me to be irritated I just might attempt to bring it down.

  That would at least force the owner to identify themselves and I can afford to replace the drone if ordered to do so by a judge.

• by Smushman on 5/21/18, 4:30 PM

  Can't we jam these signals yet?

  DIY method: https://makezine.com/projects/build-wi-fi-drone-disabler-wit...

  Pro Method: https://www.droneshield.com/blog-content/2017/1/14/drone-def...

  Seems to me with DIY method you aren't breaking any FCC regs (uses a wifi de-auth). Still I would do it out of direct line of sight (hidden/obscured area) in case operator catches you on camera.

  When you pick it up just ask them to kindly come by and pick it up.

  Being nice works well when people are doing questionable things (and possession is 9/10 of the law if they are not nice in return).

• by eb0la on 5/21/18, 2:07 PM

  I would try to target the drone and record its activity.

  If you can documentos that it is flying too much over you, you can take action.

  If that fails you can learn tensorflow and target the drone camera with a (low power) laser.

  Don't fry the camera justo point the laser at the objective while it is flying and voila: privacy happens.

• by Raed667 on 5/21/18, 12:25 PM

  Depends on where you live. Check your local laws about flying drones over populated areas and houses.

• by pasbesoin on 5/22/18, 1:11 AM

  Don't forget to film this happening, repeatedly.

  If you can show it's much more than a one-off, and how low the drone is, etc., you may get a more sympathetic reaction from authorities. Whether it's the police, a court, or whatever.

  In addition to drone use and behavior, specifically, many communities have nuisance laws and ordinances.

  If your neighbor is making a nuisance of themself, the "drone" part may be incidental in getting the behavior to stop.

  Best wishes.

  P.S. For example, you may have a perfect right to use a leaf blower on your yard. But if you are compulsive with it and spend 2 - 3 hours every day blowing every last speck off your lawn and driveway, you may be found to be a nuisance.

• by s_m_t on 5/21/18, 5:01 PM

  Bigger drone

• by P0l0 on 5/21/18, 10:37 PM

  I also have a drone if the person does not all the rules this is the best advice I have for you, record the action of the Drone,find out who it is resolve the problem with the drone pilot or the police........ obviously if somebody has a drone they should know all the rules and regulations

• by angryasian on 5/21/18, 4:55 PM

  Like this obviously

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnjlyZf6LE

• by modbait on 5/21/18, 7:13 PM

  How about neighborhood flyers warning that a drone was watching your kid get dressed. That ought to do it. (Kidding, more or less.)

• by kevinsimper on 5/21/18, 11:12 PM

  You could fly after his drone with your drone and see who it is!

• by owebmaster on 5/21/18, 12:51 PM

  You can try to grab it for you with a net or something.

• by RightMillennial on 5/21/18, 9:43 PM

  Have you considered taking up the hobby of falconry?

• by gadders on 5/21/18, 4:38 PM

  Shotgun?

• by segmondy on 5/21/18, 7:03 PM

  catapult