back to article Fearful of the drone-filled skies? Get some protection

Those fearful of a future where the skies are darkened by swarms of camera-bearing drones peering over their garden fences and peeking through their bedroom windows should proceed directly to Kickstarter and the "Personal Drone Detection System". Rattling the tin in defence of personal privacy is Domestic Drone …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

    So some drone-wielding perv can still take pictures of your kids playing

    in the swimmingpool or your (topless) sunbathing wife...

    Just combine the damn thing with a signal jammer so that every drone

    that comes near your house just drops out of the sky...

    1. Anonymous Blowhard

      Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

      Try this then:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS

      1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

        Re: Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        I like it, although just to be absolutely sure, perhaps three of them deployed around the perimeter?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        Re: Try this then

        Somehow I don't think the authorities will be too happy with people

        installing these on their rooftops !

        1. Cipher
          Big Brother

          Re: Try this then

          They won't mind you having a detector, as they will require the manufacturer to install a chip/software that ignores government drones. You'll be notified when "Creepy Old Guy" sends his unit, but the NSA unit won't be detected...

        2. james 68

          Re: Try this then

          Plenty of BB gun sentry turrets out there that could be used instead (and even plans to make your own), perfectly legal and could be incorporated into the detection gear.

          This detects the drone, arms the turret and the turret gains its target using webcam motion detection and voila, busted drone.

          You could even reimburse your costs by selling slightly used drone parts on ebay :)

          1. Suricou Raven

            Re: Try this then

            BBs would just glance off. What you need is streamer. Just some string tied to a rock to give it some mass - it'll tangle in the props.

            1. james 68

              Re: Try this then

              Depends on how you power the BB gun, compressed air tank is always fun (and available cheaply from paintball supply stores).

              This is a 1mm compressed air powered BB gun vs aluminium sheet the thickness of a coke can:

              http://youtu.be/ij6Zm0tJ03Y

              same weapon vs cd case:

              http://youtu.be/KbKVHipGBdQ

              That would tear the average joe public drone to pieces.

            2. Stoneshop

              Re: Try this then

              Paintball gun

      3. no-one in particular

        Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        You just shot at Fluffy's KittyCam!

      4. hammarbtyp

        Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        Wouldn't something like this make more sense

        http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Net-Gun/

        Then you get a free drone

      5. Mostor Astrakan

        Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        If it's worth engineering, it's worth overengineering.

    2. Richard 81

      Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

      "Just combine the damn thing with a signal jammer"

      ...and you'll find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

      1. redxine

        Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        or the wrong side of everyone trying to use WiFi, and Bluetooth, and mobes in general for that matter. If you think you're out of reach from enforcement, just remember Florida Man's expensive grudge against people driving with phones on:

        http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/News_Releases/DOC-326778A1.html

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This isn't PROtection

      Barrage balloons and netting to snare the blighters. Failing that shoot them down.

    4. dan1980

      Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

      @Malle-Herbert

      To be fair, the site does say 'detection' quite a bit.

    5. Andrew Moore

      Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

      Why would the drone drop out of the sky? It's not like a jammer is going to remove all power from it.

      1. Silverburn

        Re: This isn't PROtection... it's just DEtection...

        Because it takes almost next to nothing to make a drone fall out the sky. And fall they do - there's no such thing as a glide slope for multi rotors.

  2. no-one in particular

    Given the overall tone of the comments here, I can now understand how the project's FAQ can be so certain in its answer:

    >What's stopping the system from detecting a jogger with a cell phone?

    >The jogger is not inside the detection grid.

    1. Swarthy

      Would it take much effort to track altitude? I doubt you'll find many joggers' cell phones at 3+ meters above ground, and not too many drones below.

  3. Return To Sender

    Ah, the missing component...

    ... to add to my garden-shed EM pulse system. Let's see 'em keep the bastards in the air with fried electronics. Still a tad concerned about collateral damage, though; maybe I should look at frikkin' lasers. Anybody out there breeding flying sharks yet?

  4. Potemkine Silver badge

    A better protection

    It should be possible to find one of those in an used condtion for sale

  5. Eclectic Man Silver badge

    Range

    OK, so the detection range of this is about 50m, but a certain BBC Wildlife unit uses HD cameras capable of filming animals from over a mile away without disturbing them. So I'll use an HD Hero for the general location of my target, and a zoom for those 'intimate' details, and keep well away form the 50m detection zone.

  6. Peter Simpson 1
    Happy

    quadcopter, not Reaper?

    Barrage balloons? Acoustic sensor and pneumatic chaff dispenser? PTZ camera and image processing software? This could be a lot of fun. Short range guided missiles would probably be overkill, huh?

  7. Rob Crawford

    Fe Fi Fo FUD, I smell the snake oil

    Dear god almighty save us from idiots (like me if I have double posted this)

    Firstly, oh look a paedophile has been mentioned, no the offender will not be flying a quad over your garden, most likely he is a family member or close friend. Maybe the offender is on the internet talking to your kids because you don't supervise what your kids are doing online.

    But he/she is not flying a drone over your house

    To the anti drone idiots. YES, you up at the top of this page

    Have you ever encountered a quad copter or any of the variants, they are fucking obvious, if it's within 50 feet you then you can see and hear the big noisy flying thing. I will give you a hint it the thing in the air doesn't have feathers or fur.

    If they are using the typical gopro or a mobius camera then they are making a hell of a lot of noise right next to you because it needs to be close due to the cameras being a bit crap for that soet of thing

    Anybody else snooping is a professional and 50 metre range is no use to you, but then the camera isn't likely to be attached to a quad (between 5 & 20 minute flight time for what ordinary enthusiasts can afford.) It's probably poking out of their bedroom window or shubbery.

    Signal jammer, what are you going to do jam 5.8GHz, 2.4GHz, 1.2GHz 900MHz (appx) and 433MHz ? Well in Europe that would be illegal, and you would have neighbours/police paying you a visit.

    In the states your neighbour would shoot you for interrupting his WiFi, baby monitor, kids radio controlled whatever (car, plane, quad), video sender, home security system, remote controls.

    Get the idea? (probably not)

    For those who didn't read the product details.

    You must configure those RF sources that are deemed to be OK, people have enough trouble setting a new password on their WiFi router and as for moving to a non interfering channel so will this work?

    There's so many things wrong with this crap it's not funny meanwhile it's FUD all the way.

    Summary of the product:

    It's crap designed to take money off people and give almost nothing back.

    1. Yugguy

      Re: Fe Fi Fo FUD, I smell the snake oil

      Calm down dear, it's only the Internet.

      I would favour a broom handle in the blades.

      1. Rob Crawford

        Re: Fe Fi Fo FUD, I smell the snake oil

        Considering the number of cabbages that I get telling me that I can't fly multi rotors on the private land that they are in the process of trespassing upon.

        It's shite like that which gets people like me threatened (and in some cases assaulted) because too many members of the public have a common ancestor than the rest of us mammals

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

          Re: Fe Fi Fo FUD, I smell the snake oil

          Hover your multirotor over my private property and take pictures of me and mine and I promise you sir, you won't be getting back. If you choose to then come onto my property uninvited and demand it back without a warrant then expect that I will treat you as a hostile trespasser on my property.

          Inside the bounds of my own fence, and inside my own home I absolutely have a reasonable expectation of privacy, one I will defend against all comers to the very last of my ability.

          1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

            Re: Fe Fi Fo FUD, I smell the snake oil

            I should also point out that my government absolutely has been thinking about this, and does give fucks about privacy.

            Where UAVs are used for commercial aims, their use would be covered by the Personal Information Protection Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and subject to the same requirements as with any other data collection practice. It is a common misconception that a company does not require permission to take an individual’s photograph in a public place.87 The privacy protections in PIPEDA are there to ensure that people know when their image is being captured for commercial reasons – whether by photograph or video - and what it will be used for. PIPEDA requires consent as a general rule, subject to only limited and specific exceptions. Collection and use of personal information can only be for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances and there should be a consideration for employing a less privacy-invasive means of obtaining the information.

            If cameras on drones are governed by the same rules as surveillance cameras under PIPEDA, then flying your drone over my property in order to surveil me in my own yard absolutely is an invasion of my privacy. Just as I would be well within my rights to remove a surveillance camera discovered on my property (and surrender it to the legal authorities of my jurisdiction, should I be asked to return it), so to would I be within my rights to remove a flying camera that was surveilling me on my own property.

            Now, you want to sit outside my property and point a camera at me? Then I am entirely within my rights to whip out some triangulation gear, track down who is controlling that drone and sue you for invasion of privacy. And I will win. Just like you cannot place a surveillance camera on your own building and point it at my back yard or bedroom, you cannot hover a drone just outside the property line and surveil me.

            Your drone just flying by and accidentally waves onto my property as it's doing wide area shots or taking pictures of crowds? That's not an invasion of privacy and I likely have no legal recourse to seize the drone, though I do have a potential case for trespassing, if I can track down who is flying it.

            Also of note: you can't go taking pictures of those crowds unless you post notice that you are going to. That's part of privacy law here. Even if you have a surveillance camera on your own property, you need to post notices.

            Thus, if you have a drone looking at me for any reason, in any place and have not posted adequate notice such that I may find out who it is that is operating that drone, you are in violation of the law. At least if you use the drone for anything even remotely commercial. Recreational use is a lot more iffy...but I'd be entirely pleased to be the first bloke to take that one to the Supreme court.

            Short version: you don't get to point a camera at me, even in a public place, unless you post a warning about it. You don't get to point a camera onto my property without asking, and if you place a camera on my property you're violating criminal - not just civil - law, and I have the right to remove (but not destroy) the camera, and to only surrender it to the authorities.

            So no, I don't get to shoot your drone down. But cross my property line with it, I do get to net the damned thing and only give it back when the cops are at your side. At which point you will have told me who you are, and I will press charges.

            Thanks,

            --A citizen with a reasonable expectation of privacy in his own home and behind his own fence.

  8. Andy 97

    Love the 80's schools television music.

  9. ItsNotMe
    WTF?

    "Detection is apparently within 50ft of any node."

    Seriously? Seems to me that if one of these Drones comes within 50ft. of me...then I probably would, at the very least hear it, and most likely also see it.

    Sounds like just one more P.T. Barnum moment to me. The complete dumbing-down of society continues.

    1. Charles Manning

      Re: "Detection is apparently within 50ft of any node."

      50ft is nice slingshot range, even for a complete novice.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Detection is apparently within 50ft of any node."

        And once you've knocked down a drone that is flying perfectly legally in the sky you can pay for the damage and/or face criminal damage charges.

  10. The Grump
    Mushroom

    How about an anti-drone drone system ?

    Just have your drone crash into the offending drone, and down they both go. Yeah, it's expensive, but think of the children playing in the backyard pool, then think about the perv controlling the offending drone. Now if the PDDS came with hellfire missiles that would lock onto the drone controller, and the pedo holding it - that might be worth it. Icon to show result of hellfire missiles.

    1. Stoneshop
      FAIL

      Re: How about an anti-drone drone system ?

      Just have your drone crash into the offending drone,

      Furrfu, just dangle a few strings from your drone and fly over the target.

      1. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: How about an anti-drone drone system ?

        And then you own two anti-drone copters.

  11. Peter Stone

    But, but.....

    Using a shotgun's more fun!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So how does this connect ...

    to a General Electric Mini Gun?

    I mean, come on if ya gonna do it, ya might as well do it proper, like...

    1. Colin Ritchie
      Windows

      Re: So how does this connect ...

      GE's Minigun is for pussies, Goalkeeper is the real deal for swatting undesirables from your personal airspace:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalkeeper_CIWS

      The GAU-8/A Avenger 30 mm Gatling gun, as used by the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, was selected for the system. The 30 mm round has a greater mass than the M61 Vulcan used in the Phalanx CIWS, so it provides much greater destructive power with similar muzzle velocity and range.

      The system's reaction time to a Mach 2 sea-skimming missile such as the Russian SS-N-22 Sunburn from automatic detection to kill is reported to be 5.5 seconds with the firing synchronized to start the engagement at a range of 1,500 m and ending with a kill at 300 m.

      Them Cloggies know the score when it comes to lead curtains.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Easy

    Live in a cave.

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Easy

      Don't forget to line the cave with tin foil.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    People who fly drones

    should have to take out insurance for when these things start landing on people and falling out of the sky on to people.

    1. Silverburn

      Re: People who fly drones

      In Switzerland, they do.

  15. Proxy Server

    This is the knock-off. The real thing must be interesting.

    Someone needed to make some money with a proof-of-concept product without offending anyone.

    People needing *real* protection will want things like insect-sized accuracy, for insect-sized drones, lasers to disable cameras, high-powered radio jamming, processing of detected signals against a database of commercial drone products, the ability to remotely control any drones that allow it, and various other additional features, not to mention something that doesn't broadcast its own operation over easily available channels.

    And *obviously* you can't even BEGIN to approach such a thing from the poor side of the law. You should at least be a corporation, and preferably some sort of military/civilian collaboration. Otherwise, if you can't catch it with a butterfly net, you should probably leave it alone.

    This is going to get amusing in a bit - if you like dystopian science fiction.

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