ST. LOUIS - Drone technology is moving fast, even faster than residents can rush to the window to lower the blinds.
Some people have seen small hobby drones outside their homes and over their backyards. They’re also discovering how little they can do to protect their privacy from airborne voyeurs.
Lorena Veresh learned to watch the skies after a scary sighting through her daughters’ bathroom window.
“They were doing their hair and heard a weird noise,” she said.
The source of the low, buzzing sound was a drone, hovering at the second-floor window.
“It hovered out there for a good little bit,” Veresh said. “Who flies a drone at 9 o'clock at night, peaking into a small window?”
Seeing that drone changed the way she felt in her own neighborhood.
“I'd like some privacy,” she said. “I don't want to feel like I'm being barricaded in my house.”
Veresh reported the sighting to the police. She said they never showed up. Residents don’t yet know who was flying the drone, or why.
People are reporting peeping drones all across the country.
In 2016, a man in Orem, Utah, saw a drone flying outside his bathroom window and over his house. He chased it down with his car and reviewed the photos in its storage. He found videos of people in their apartments, recorded through their windows and right into their bedrooms.
The police used that footage to identify the drone’s owner, 40-year-old Aaron Foote. He pleaded no contest to voyeurism by electronic equipment.
Foote’s drone was especially sneaky because he had covered its safety lights with tape. Private investigator Mike Barbieri said that voyeurs have several tricks to go undetected.
“They'll camouflage them all. They can also make them quieter,” he said.
His own clients have reported plenty of problems with peeping drones: “You could be in the backyard in a hot tub with your wife and the drone could be taping you.”
There are laws governing where and when pilots can fly drones, and people are supposed to adhere to them, but those are FAA rules. they have nothing to do with privacy. There are peeping Tom laws, but nothing specifically related to drones. That's because the federal government controls the air, everything from one millimeter off the ground, all the way up.
Veresh said that this new dimension of privacy will stick with her.
“It's given me something to think about to talk with my own children and my students, about what they should do if they see one, and also that if they see one, it's not ok for it to be looking in your windows,” she said.
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot shoot a drone just because it’s in your airspace. Police say you could be charged with destruction of property. And, since drones are required to be licensed as aircraft, you could be charged with a federal crime as well.
In general, the Federal Aviation Administration requires hobby drones stay below 400 feet and steer clear of other aircraft and airports. A hobby drone can weight up to 55 pounds and may only fly during daylight hours. The operator must keep the drone in sight at all times. Visit the FAA website to learn more about the rules for flying a drone.