Eloise Plante finds it hard to believe what she went through. At around 7pm on Tuesday, when she returned from work, she noticed a drone hovering in front of her window watching her.
“It was hot, I was in bed in my underwear, the curtains were not closed because I was on the third floor and there were no direct neighbors. I noticed a green light outside and when I looked, a drone was watching me outside my window,” he told Nuovo Info. .
Panicking, Eloise took out her cell phone to take a photo of the device staring at her.
“As soon as I picked up my cell phone, the drone took off,” he says.
Eloise fears that the person behind the device that noticed her last Tuesday may want to harm her.
“Someone I know knows where I live, who can come and try to come back or use pictures to threaten or post them somewhere,” says Eloise.
The drone seen will be the DJI MAVIC 3, a very popular model that weighs less than 250 grams and does not require any certification from Transport Canada.
Is it illegal to use a drone like this?
All the laws and regulations for using a drone are very complex. In addition to Transport Canada’s Aeronautics Act, drone users must respect all other federal and provincial laws in addition to municipal regulations.
“People forget these laws because they quickly read the traffic law that governs the airspace and above all protects aviation, but pay very little attention to what happens in the air,” explains Romaine Brot, director of operations at DroneBox.
“From the moment he takes pictures on his drone, he can have negative intentions or harm the person. […] This is illegal!” says Mr. Prot.
There are actually remedies in the law to allow irresponsible drone users. In civil cases, charges of negligence, trespass, nuisance and invasion of privacy can be filed.
In some cases, this can lead to criminal charges, for example, mischief, criminal harassment, larceny and criminal negligence.
“It is a person’s responsibility not to be negligent in the use of his drone, even if he defends himself by claiming that he did not do it intentionally,” notes Romain Brot, noting that negligence is a very important concept in aeronautics.
“If a person feels their privacy has been violated, they’ve been negligent and there’s a way to pursue them,” he says.
Transport Canada is responsible for investigations. On its website, it says: “To report a privacy-related drone incident, for example, unknowingly recording you in your home, please contact your local police department.”
This is precisely what Eloise did, but the federal agency’s response was not necessarily reassuring to her.
“At the time I was told there was nothing they could do because I only had a photo of the drone and I didn’t know who the person was. They told me that next time I would try to see if I could find out who it was and take photos to get back to them so they could start an investigation.
Meanwhile, Eloise continues to live in agony
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