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What's with the drones? Can you really spy with them?

 

This is not a drone issue; it is a photography privacy issue.

Many states already have Paparazzi or Peeping-Tom laws which protect people in private locations regardless of the exact camera platform being used. Narrowly tying any law to a single piece of technology will make the law obsolete by the time it is enacted.

Does it really matter that the camera is flown by a drone? How about a step ladder and your phone? A selfie stick? A long lens equipped SLR from a second story across the street? A balloon? A trained pigeon with micro camera? Etc…

The outdoor park example in the article is nonsense since you have no expectation of privacy in a public park and most cell phones do a better job at taking pictures in a park than a consumer drone camera.

A single camera privacy law can criminalize privacy violating activities and does need yet another law every time a new type of camera platform is rapidly invented.

Florida for instance has a ridiculous drone surveillance act, so narrowly defined and with so many exemptions, that it serves nearly no purpose at all. Well except to make it look like the governor is taking action against the evil drone threat.