It's the built in camera in the DJI Phantom 3.
There's talk from a few that they would shoot drones down. You might rethink that because you might be on camera. The DJI and I think most sophisticated drones stream the video to the controlling device like the iPad or iPhone on the controller and it's recorded along with a flight log. I would make great evidence in court and the flight log provide a precise location for the police to pick the person up.
I don't think anyone is serious about shooting down a drone, but I would gently advise you to think through the scenario you are describing.
First, you would have to rile up someone enough - and for so long - that they would go get a shotgun, load it, and take your drone down. If you are spending that much time in such close proximity to someone with a gun, there is a common sense issue. You might not get the footage because he might also get your iPad.
Second, you would have to have the chutzpah to report to the police that your drone got shot down over someone else's house (and don't laugh - lots of property crime - like theft of expensive bikes - goes unreported). Assuming that the police even responded, remember,
you're the creep with the flying video surveillance rig flying over someone else's property. There is police discretion, and to get to court, you would need to satisfy prosecutorial discretion. If you are an outsider in some suburban community, good luck getting a local police department to prosecute a resident for defending him/herself against a perceived trespass. This, of course, assumes that someone was able to identify the shooter (which depending on population density could be quite tough).
Third, if you got to court, you'd have to get the footage into evidence, which depending on the circumstances, could be challenging. And in front of a judge or jury (let alone small-claims referee)?
You're the creep with the flying video setup flying over someone else's property. And let's remember that in the only case where this was prosecuted, the case was dismissed. The only known civil case was one where there was an award because the drone was actually over the drone owner's land.
But consider what the logging and video footage can do to an operator:
- It could serve as evidence in a felony illegal surveillance action against you (many states have laws against recording people where they have an expectation of privacy).
- It could serve as evidence in an FAA proceeding that you illegally operated a drone (or operated one without a license) (note that under FAA's guide for law enforcement, they have a role in monitoring UASs).
- It could serve as evidence in a civil trespass or invasion of privacy suit.
- Evidence that you attempted to alter or destroy logging information after such an incident could bite you hard in a civil or criminal action.
I would add to this the observation that in most circumstances, logging is used most often
against the person whose device is being logged.
This is not to say that people should shoot down drones, or that it's OK, but it is to say that common sense is more way important than some CSI-informed view of the world in which the GPS data leads someone right to a perp, prosecution, and reimbursement for a now-shredded drone. If I flew a drone over someone else's property, I would accept as a possible consequence that I might not ever see it again and would have no practical way to do anything about it. The mildest case would be a dead battery that causes an unexpected landing. And the worst?
And why are people steamed? You write it off as paranoia - but privacy is a longstanding right at common (and now civil) law, and people see drones as a potential invasion of same. Just as we had the whole glasshole thing with Google Glasses, so it is with quadcopters.
Dante
