Drones and privacy
How a household can keep ordinary privacy, write down a sighting, and report it. Interfering with a drone is illegal.
General information. Use it at your own risk. Follow the law. Seek a clinician, a licensed tradesperson, or the authorities when you can.
Written for a household in St. Johns County and northeast Florida. This is a planning aid. Orders, zones, and shelter instructions come from the county and the state.
Before
- Curtains, a porch cover, and choosing where you stand outside are ordinary privacy. You do not have to perform for a camera.
- Agree what you will write down if a drone worries you: time, direction, color, and any registration number you can read from where you already are.
- A photo from a safe place is enough. Do not chase the aircraft or climb to get closer.
During
- Stay where you are. Note the time and what you can see.
- If you believe a crime is happening, call local law enforcement. Do not try to handle it yourself.
- Public-safety agencies have an FAA process for drones that interfere with their work. The FAA public-safety page is the one to hand them.
- Jamming, spoofing, or shooting down a drone is illegal under federal law. A drone is an aircraft. Do not throw anything at it, hit it, or try to take over its signal.
After
- Keep your notes. If you called authorities, write down the time you called.
- Close curtains or move a gathering if that is all the household needed.
- Do not post a guess about who was flying. Report facts you saw.
Checklist
- A place to write time, direction, and color
- Curtains or a cover for the windows you use
- Local law enforcement number already in the phone
- Everyone knows not to touch or jam a drone
Sources
Official pages only. Open them for the full instructions.