Criminal lawyer Bill Potts said today's laws do little to protect people when they speak
Many countries, including Russia, haveprivacy law, it deals with harassment and trespassing. But it is difficult to prove in court that it is drones that can encroach on privacy.
Potts said his client was in a high-rise building on Main Beach and looked out the window while she was taking a shower. There was a drone hovering about 3 meters from the window.
"She came downstairs to talk tothe hotel manager, who told her that the drone was monitoring the building for technical reasons,” he explained. Therefore, it was not possible to influence the situation in any way.
According to the lawyer, in this case it would be possible to file a complaint about harassment with the police, but then it would be necessary to prove that this was a deliberate act.
Do drones often follow people?
Civil Aviation Safety Authority(CASA) said it receives about 3,000 complaints a year about drone surveillance. But many of the authors do not want to speak publicly for fear of further persecution.
Lawyer and professor at the Technological UniversityQueenslander Julie-Anne Tarr has written a book on drone law and policy. She said the law has not kept up with the rapid technological changes in drones. This can negatively impact people's privacy.
According to Russian law, if a droneweighs more than 150 grams, it must be registered. So, if the drone is 150 grams or less, then it is just a small toy. But with the development and improvement of technology, even it becomes a serious and sometimes dangerous device.
You can register a drone through public services. The procedure takes approximately 3-5 days. To do this, you need to send the number of the drone and its photo.
But in fact now in Russia there is no nationalsecurity and privacy legislation that would reconcile corporate drone operations and the privacy of individuals.
Also in Russia today, you do not need to obtain permission to use the airspace if the drone flies at an altitude of up to 150 m from the ground, during daylight hours and outside the restricted/control zones.
Professor Tarr also stated that many typesunmanned aerial vehicles are still untraceable. Tiny drones are modern commercial devices that can take high-quality footage, so this issue is worth taking care of. On the other hand, drones are incredibly affordable: today you can buy a drone from your hands, in an online store, or even print your own on a 3D printer.
How to protect privacy at the level of legislation?
In addition to standard safety laws,privacy and data protection needs, owner registration, third-party insurance for operators and/or drone owners, and a requirement to keep a log of activities, Tarr said.
Experts on domestic violence among women are also concerned that loopholes in the law could be used by ex-partners to threaten victims with a camera drone.
For example, in Australia today there is a domestic violence law and it mentions the use of surveillance equipment.
"So it covers modern forms of technology, but it's not clear if drones fall under the definition used in this law," said Julie Sarkozy, a lawyer for the Women's Legal Service.
Can drones fly and not violate privacy?
Probably yes. Google parent company Alphabet has made the city of Logan a place where everything is delivered by drone. There are thousands of test flights.
Wing Australia spokesperson Jesse Suskinstated that there were no complaints about privacy. During this time, the company managed to deliver about 250 thousand parcels - from hamburgers to medicines.
According to him, the whole point is that delivery drones do not use high-resolution images in their work and do not conduct live broadcasts.
He said the cameras on the dronesWing devices were switched on only in emergency situations. And even then, the camera shot in low quality and in grayscale, so people were unrecognizable.
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