Sweden Effectively Bans Camera Drone Flights

Megalith

Megalith

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The country’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that Swedes may only fly a camera-equipped drone if they are doing so to prevent crimes or accidents, which is questionable because it’s not illegal to record stuff in public places. Enforcing this would also be hard, so some are wondering why they even bothered at all.

…local drone owners are upset. The industry group UAS Sweden contends that the court might be killing Sweden's drone market. Aftonbladet, meanwhile, points out that the ruling doesn't make sense in the context of existing laws. It's legal for Swedes to capture images in public places, so why is it wrong just because that camera is attached to a quadcopter? There are no journalistic exceptions, either, which is odd when other laws allow it.
 
Enforcement will only be hard against people smart enough to keep their footage off of youtube and social media. ;)

It is Sweden, I don't get their reasoning behind it, but it's their country.
 
This is some serious Bullsh1t. What next...we better ban those sneaky bastards with cameras in there cellphones!
 
True, there is no law against recording stuff in public places, but unless you are flying it in the middle of no where, there is a good chance you will also look into private property.
 
dgz said:
Ban smartphones altogether, I don't care.
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And cameras that fit in your pocket! And in fact my sister has a flip phone that has a camera....we best ban all cell phones to be sure, and any other type of media...I object to having my voice recorded, some bastard could stand outside my property and intercept my personal sound waves!!!

Wait...hold on, I saw someone that was capable of sketching what they saw...we need a ban on all types of drawing materials. Once I glanced out the window while riding in a cesna...it was pretty low and I could see peoples backyards. We need to ban windows on airplanes as well. This would also no doubt save countless lives by negating the laser pointer thing too. (I actually agree with that being illegal.) Yes yes, I am being silly but for Sweden to call camera equipped drones "surveillance devices" seems pretty silly to me. A bit conspicuous for that. Are binoculars banned too?

Gee, instead what if Sweden just banned overflying private property with a personal drone? It is just as or more enforceable and I would argue that in public there is no reasonable expectation of privacy anyhow.

BTW, is there a law against looking into private property? People should not be rude dicks but to ban being a dick by law is an interesting slope.

Does anybody know what the fine/punishment is under the Swedish law? Just curious. I guess my drone video themed vacation in the alps is off.
 
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Given that just a couple days ago some id10t was flying a quadcopter with camera outside my building looking into windows. I say good. I didn't find them or I would have introduced them to baseball bat.
 
schoenda said:
And cameras that fit in your pocket! And in fact my sister has a flip phone that has a camera....we best ban all cell phones to be sure, and any other type of media...I object to having my voice recorded, some bastard could stand outside my property and intercept my personal sound waves!!!

Wait...hold on, I saw someone that was capable of sketching what they saw...we need a ban on all types of drawing materials. Once I glanced out the window while riding in a cesna...it was pretty low and I could see peoples backyards. We need to ban windows on airplanes as well. This would also no doubt save countless lives by negating the laser pointer thing too. (I actually agree with that being illegal.) Yes yes, I am being silly but for Sweden to call camera equipped drones "surveillance devices" seems pretty silly to me. A bit conspicuous for that. Are binoculars banned too?

Gee, instead what if Sweden just banned overflying private property with a personal drone? It is just as or more enforceable and I would argue that in public there is no reasonable expectation of privacy anyhow.

BTW, is there a law against looking into private property? People should not be rude dicks but to ban being a dick by law is an interesting slope.

Does anybody know what the fine/punishment is under the Swedish law? Just curious. I guess my drone video themed vacation in the alps is off.
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Nah, you're right. It's not the technology. It's the people.

It's just that I imagined smartphones a lot different then what they ended up being. They're not personal PCs. They are basically spying machines. It's shit, mon.
 
schoenda said:
Does anybody know what the fine/punishment is under the Swedish law? Just curious. I guess my drone video themed vacation in the alps is off.
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Don't give up the dream, I hear the Alps in Switzerland are even better! ;)
 
Another example of damn idiots running a country. It's a shame that politicians have zero scientific knowledge and real world experience, yet they're the ones making decisions about the faith of countries.

Drones have a variety of useful commercial applications past recreational use.
 
Sublym3 said:
True, there is no law against recording stuff in public places, but unless you are flying it in the middle of no where, there is a good chance you will also look into private property.
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When you're walking down a street there is 100% chance you're looking into private property, unless it has a 10 foot wall around it.
 
stormy1 said:
Given that just a couple days ago some id10t was flying a quadcopter with camera outside my building looking into windows. I say good. I didn't find them or I would have introduced them to baseball bat.
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Just a couple of days ago some idiot was driving a car on the shoulder zigzagging between traffic. BAN ALL CARS!


BTW one of the best applications of drones is capturing images of building facades for 3d reconstruction. So can you be sure that the goal was to "Look inside windows"? Or are you just projecting what you think of as the only use for drones is to others?
 
M76 said:
Just a couple of days ago some idiot was driving a car on the shoulder zigzagging between traffic. BAN ALL CARS!


BTW one of the best applications of drones is capturing images of building facades for 3d reconstruction. So can you be sure that the goal was to "Look inside windows"? Or are you just projecting what you think of as the only use for drones is to others?
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doesn't matter why they were doing it. When I look out my second story bedroom window and see a camera lens 10 feet away pointing at my face its going to piss me off.
 
stormy1 said:
doesn't matter why they were doing it. When I look out my second story bedroom window and see a camera lens 10 feet away pointing at my face its going to piss me off.
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Please, get the help you need. You are like one encounter away from hurting someone.
 
wizzi01 said:
Please, get the help you need. You are like one encounter away from hurting someone.
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naw, if that were the case I would have blasted it away with a 12ga instead of waving a baseball bat at it from inside the house. Then going outside and looking around to yell at them. It took off and they were not around when I got outside. I used to fly RC planes and have a lot of respect for the hobby but it seems these days a lot of people have no respect for others or for the hobby.
 
Took away the skill and work required to engage in the hobby, and now any moron can pilot a quad with a 4k video camera attached from a couple miles away.
So morons rush in and pick up the hobby, dick around, and make the rest of us look like douche bag voyeurs.

Assholes, everywhere I look, assholes.
 
stormy1 said:
naw, if that were the case I would have blasted it away with a 12ga instead of waving a baseball bat at it from inside the house. Then going outside and looking around to yell at them. It took off and they were not around when I got outside. I used to fly RC planes and have a lot of respect for the hobby but it seems these days a lot of people have no respect for others or for the hobby.
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But as I said. Flying drones is not a hobby for me, it's part of the job. That's why news like this make me angry and sad at the same time.
 
M76 said:
But as I said. Flying drones is not a hobby for me, it's part of the job. That's why news like this make me angry and sad at the same time.
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What would you suggest as a solution? There is clearly a problem.
 
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