The use of drones has grown exponentially in the last few years. Anyone can buy a drone; no license or certification is required. People are using drones for all kinds of things. But as drones become more popular, there has been an increase in concern over their privacy implications. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about if and when can drones see inside your house.
CAN A DRONE SEE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE?
The short answer is yes. A drone can undoubtedly see inside your house and possibly detect more. The only thing preventing a drone from seeing inside your house is the drone’s line of sight. A drone can see through windows if the drone is close enough and if the windows are clean.
There are a few other caveats, but they are not well understood. First, a drone is not likely to be able to detect infrared (IR) light coming from old-school incandescent lights. Second, a drone will have a more challenging time seeing inside during the day because sunlight will reflect off the windows and obscure the view from inside.
Federal Law And Private Surveillance By Drone
There are a handful of federal laws that touch on drone surveillance. These laws govern the government’s use of drones, not private citizens. That said, the government is investing millions of dollars into research on drone detection and the ability to identify individuals based on data collected by drones.
That could one day lead to the government being able to access data collected by private citizens. Right now, two federal laws protect against the government using drones for surveillance.
First, the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act prohibits law enforcement from using drones to collect evidence or data in criminal investigations.
Second, the Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits the government from secretly collecting information from individuals. These laws only apply to government drones and do not apply to private drones.
Drones Can See Inside Homes – With The Right Equipment
To see inside a house, a drone has to get close enough to the house. The closer the drone is, the easier it is for a drone operator to see inside the house. The equipment on a drone will also have a significant effect on how easy it is to see inside a house. Equipment on a typical drone includes cameras, a GPS, an altitude sensor, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
Camera – The type of camera on a drone will have a significant effect on how easy it is to see inside a house. Like an SLR, a camera that uses visible light is much easier to see inside a house than an infrared light to see in the dark.
GPS – The drone’s GPS sensor will record a drone’s location, speed, and altitude. That data can be used to determine how close a drone came to an individual house and whether a drone was near the roof of a house.
Altitude sensor – The altitude sensor on a drone will record the distance between the drone and the ground. Drones usually fly between 200 and 400 feet above the ground. The altitude sensor can determine how close a drone came to a house.
IMU – An IMU is a device that collects data about the movement and position of the drone. It is often used to collect additional data from the other sensors on a drone.