What’s Wrong With NoFlyZone?
Paranoia surrounding “drones” in the US seems to be at its momentary peak, though I am sure there is more to come as there is no shortage of news pouring out of tech and general media building up a negative “hype” over the hobby. Many people think that all these unfortunate events are to be blamed on the fact the some manufacturers, the general public and god forbid some members of the multirotor community calls their devices “drones”. I personally believe that it’s a semantic battle that has already been lost, language evolves and if more and more people call something a certain name, it will stick and become part of the language itself. We could call our devices “didgeridoo” if we wanted to, the general public would still call them drones and even if they didn’t, the stories giving our hobby a “bad name” would still pour. Why? Because people are concerned with drones being equipped with high definition cameras and being piloted by the average Joe who picked it up half an hour ago at Best Buy. We should hear their concerns and instead of fighting internal battles within the community on what we should call drones, it would make a lot more sense to work on helping people have an unbiased, honest understanding of what our hobby is about, what it is we really do and to be courteous when they ask about our devices. I personally had a lot more positive experiences than negative ones while flying in public places. Ordinary people, kids, tourists, even elderly ladies come up to me and asked the questions many people in groups get annoyed with. You know, the ones such as:
- What is it?
- How high can it fly?
- How much does it cost?
- Etc.
I find it a bit cocky that people would print T-Shirts with answers to those questions so they are not bothered by the public. As long as we act like that, we will get negative attention. I believe it would be just enough to say: “Sorry, I really have to pay attention to controlling my DRONE for the sake of security, but let me land it really quickly to show it to you if you are interested.”
There are constructive initiatives out there such as the Know Before You Fly website that gathers the most important basic things to remember for flying a multicopter. Geared at newbies, it is unquestionably a good initiative to help newbies gain basic knowledge and show people that we care. It also helps awareness among those who don’t fly since they can also check what basic rules we are trying to follow. We also have a Beginner’s Guide specially created for newbies.
A Private, Voluntary Initiative
At the same time, there are less clearly positive ones like NoFlyZone.org which now offers a way for you to establish a “no-fly zone” over your property, preserving and protecting your privacy from drones. The Company provides a comprehensive global database of no-drone areas, supported by drone manufacturers and operators who have joined the NoFlyZone community.
NoFlyZone will offer people the ability to set customized airspace access preferences. For example, individuals will be able to clarify that they may not want camera drones over their property, but they do want to receive packages delivered by drone. Some of these advanced features will be premium services, but those who register in February will receive a limited time offer of two years of all NoFlyZone services free of charge. So eventually, a private group wants to make money on peoples’ (false or true) perception of owning the air above their properties.
Who is Behind NoFlyZone?
Here is a comment from the founder: “Drones have grown beyond just a recreational hobby. They’re immensely popular around the world, and as usage is growing exponentially, people should be aware of the great things drones can do for them, as well as their own privacy rights,” said Ben Marcus, founder and CEO, NoFlyZone.
According to NoFlyZone-s press release, Marcus has been passionate about aviation his entire life, starting with remote-control airplanes. He took his first flying lesson at age 10 and is an FAA-certified Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor. Prior to NoFlyZone, Marcus co-founded leading aircraft brokerage firm jetAVIVA. I wonder what Marcus would answer if someone asked him if he could prevent those pesky 747-s flying over their properties or Google Earth and other satellites peaking over their properties.
“Our mission is simple: To provide structure for the safe, reliable, responsible and sustainable growth of the drone industry by giving property owners a better way to interact with operators,” said Marcus.
Who is Involved?
Drone companies participating in NoFlyZone’s consortium include EHANG, DroneDeploy, YUNEEC, HEXO+, PixiePath and RCFlyMaps. I am sure you noticed that these are nowhere nearly the largest manufacturers. The vast majority of privately-owned drones probably originate from 3D Robotics and DJI and none of these players are involved. Yet, I would say as DJI for example jumped right at the shadow recently attempting to ban Phantoms from flying in Washington DC after one of their devices landed in the White House lawn. The firmware update making that happen needed to be revoked, asking users to go back to the previous version as it was probably a rushed release going sour. So DJI could be one of the first ones to join, but we could also be surprised as I would speculate that they must have been contacted by NoFlyZone and if they are not on board already, it could mean that they also have second thoughts.
What’s Wrong With NoFlyZone?
I personally have a lot of problems with this for profit organization.
First of all, I feel that it is promising a false sense of security to those not really understanding the hobby – because they are not involved – and it’s implications. Doing this for a fee in the future. What if a drone that is not equipped with a GPS flies over that property? Even those that are GPS equipped like the DJI Phantom can be turned into attitude mode by a flick of a switch meaning it keeps altitude, but does not get GPS lock so it will fly right into any airspace not knowing where it is. If this would not be the case, we could also ask who owns the quadcopters we buy for over thousand bucks?
Second, I feel that the company does not do enough to verify that the person actually owns the property being listed. Or the person existing at all for the matter. To the question “How do you prevent someone from registering a property that doesn’t belong to them?” in the FAQ section of site, the answer is: “Only one physical address per e-mail address will be allowed to be registered.” I don’t think I need to explain why this is a problem. Of course this way, it is easy for NoFlyZone to maintain it’s records, but for a service that plans to charge in the future, I don’t believe this is an adequate way to prevent wrongful use.
In general, I feel that all hobbyists should by default respect others’ privacy. As we also discussed in our post on 3 Main Rules to follow when flying quadcopters, it is the very essence of basic flight etiquette to be mindful of the feeling of others around you. A sensible quad pilot would never fly to close to a private property without the consent of the owners. Period.
So is there a need for such a service in the first place? Is it a legitimate way for a private company to make money? Can a company “sell” the air over a private property? Please share your thoughts in the comments below as I/we could have missed something.
Kennedy Martinez
kennedy@dronethusiast.comKennedy Martinez is a resident writer who joined Dronethusiast at the beginning of 2019. She has years of experience reviewing drones and other tech products. When it comes to flying drones, Kennedy loves the ability to create artistic videos from a unique point of view. Kennedy enjoys researching new drones and other exciting products that are available to consumers which is why she is committed to creating the best buyer's guides for our readers.
In the 1946 case U.S. vs. Causby, the Supreme Court said landowners have exclusive right of airspace surrounding their property. In part, the decision says “The landowner owns at least the space above the ground as the can occupy or use in connection with the land”.
A drone 100 ft over your property is in the public domain.
BTW, the concept is horribly flawed and can never work as many drones don’t even have a GPS and many more are built using open-source software.
There is absolutely no factual evidence to support the fear and ignorance around small personal drones. Mostly ignorance.
Not to mention that you have NO control over the airspace above your property, and forbidding anyone from flying over it is against FAA rules.
Hi,
Thanks for your article! I appreciate the opportunity to answer some of your concerns and explain more about why we’re doing this and what our vision is. Please contact me.
Many thanks,
Ben
I agree with the author. This business clearly feeds on people’s fears of drones, and the ignorance that causes that fear. This is selling a false sense of security that any drone with an ATTI mode can overcome. You must be ignorant to pay for such an incomplete and fallible ‘service.’ If Mr. Marcus has any business wits about him I’m certain he’s aware of that, which in itself is not honorable or respectable in any regard.
Furthermore, this article doesn’t mention that the proposed “no fly zone” around each property is 500ft. Let’s play pretend, where in a parallel dimension this “business” actually succeeds and all drone manufacturers are forced to participate (as I’m sure Mr. Marcus is wishing upon a star for). Your neighbor signs up to make their property a ‘no fly zone,’ in turn black-listing a 500ft radius around his property. Go take a look at your property on Google maps, right click, and use the “Measure distance” feature to see how much your neighborhood would be impacted. Most of my entire neighborhood, including parks, become black-listed. All the sudden, entire neighborhoods and parks become no-fly-zones. Hell, there’s nothing stopping someone from creating new email addresses to black-list their favorite restaurant, trailhead, or city park.
One person has way too much power, which is why DJI and 3DR haven’t signed up. It would only take a small anti-drone coalition in each city to save up the small amount of money to blanket an entire city with ‘no-fly-zones’ for drones. This would kill drone sales and I’m certain all the existing NFZ partners (who have only joined prematurely in an attempt to publicly advertise that they are safety-aware) will figure this out soon enough and bail.
In a different dimension Mr. Marcus figures this out early enough that he finds away to create polygon-based geofences around properties. While very accurate, now drone pilots are able to fly right up to the property line or backyard fence of a no fly zone, essentially just enough to annoy the paying no-fly-zone customer out of their subscription.
Maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe Mr. Marcus is whole-heartedly trying to make the world a safer place. Maybe he is a huge UAS enthusiast and flies every day like the rest of us. In any event, from an objective standpoint this business model in its current form may catch a few coins, but it’s destined to fail from both ends at the same time.
Beyond that, what is to stop a neighbor from using a free email address to put a no fly zone on the address of a “drone” operators house themselves, so they can’t even fly in their OWN yard? Big mess, and legal challenges waiting to happen.
Agree fully.
Very true! I don’t fly for fun my drones are just another tool for my Photography hobby! They give me a way to capture photos and video we’re it ps either to dangerous for me or my subject like ( wild horses or Buffalo, from a safe distance and where still legally allowed, National Parks are banned right now) I use my DSLRs 80% of the time but there’s just some places it’s not practical to shoot with a Conventional Camera! Like a beach in Oregon next to the Sealion caves I would either need to get permits to climb down a cliff or navigate the ocean in a dangerous rocky shoreline! With one of my drones I can get the shot in a few minutes safely and move on to the next area. The paranoia surrounding Drones is getting out of hand! I had a woman ask me if my drone was live on Facebook? I know it’s possible to do a live stream but not really practical on the road in remote areas! She expressed her fears that all they are for is to post video of people in private settings on Facebook! I gave up trying to explain how they work and what most of us use them for!
We fall on both sides of this issue. We own several drones and enjoy flying them over public spaces. However, we have also been interrupted several times this summer by drones hovering, at most, 30 feet above our back yard. It’s creepy and an invasion of our privacy equivalent to someone entering our yard without permission. We’ve registered our address on No Fly Zone and now have a basket of tennis balls in the back yard near to hand.
Great idea, can not wait to sign my address up. Drones are OK but the operators should be treated like skateboarders and be fined for flying anywhere they are not welcome. I see it no different then off-roading on private land. If you were not invited you should be ticketed and or arrested.
You pay $1000 for your recreational equipment, you think that buys you the right to violate my privacy? To film me and mine as we relax by the pool? How much do you think landscaping and privacy fencing costs? We spent many many thousands more for ours than you did for your rights, if we’re talking money, but never mind that. I had no idea , I thought residential areas were simply strictly off limits, until I looked out my home office window about a month ago, and through a gap in my curtains saw a quadcopter/drone. I watched it, it watched me, for maybe a solid minute before it buzzed away. I have heard the thing, but not seen it, twice since. I very much felt the violation, and I wasn’t even doing anything embarrassing! Would have been a different feeling had I been in my bathing suit.
I sympathize with you responsible and decent operators, just like I’m sure you feel sorry that I can’t ride my horse around town. The nature of your beast just carries way too much asshole potential for that certain minority of your brethren to resist. I have just begun looking into what rights I retain, and what recourse is available to me, in preparation for the next visit from our village idiot.
Good luck to us all.
Just because a drone is hovering it is most likely not looking at you there’s a lot of reasons most for safety issues like GPS signals or uploading a flight plan! When I fly I check my area first for issues but have had to basically pause my flight a few times a bird was eying up my drone and I had to plan a escape route so If the bird did attack it! The drone would not fall on someone! There’s a lot that goes into flying a drone sure there’s a few people with lots of money to burn on a drone and they use them like a toy but most of us it’s just another tool for a photography hobby! There’s so many uses like 3D mapping of the area, surveying, police could be looking for a lost child or a dangerous criminal! I have been asked to send my drone up to look for a lost elderly hiker! You don’t know why it’s up there just like you don’t know why that helicopter flew over your house with much better cameras than any drone! Some helps can almost see through walls! With the Infared cameras they have on them! Wouldn’t you feel like a POS if you complained about a drone looking for your neighbors missing child? Or if (I’m not saying you would go this far but some people have) shot down or threw something at a drone doing something important? Yes civilians get asked to help search for lost and abbducted children! Most of us UAV Pilots are obeying the laws! And have the FAA registration numbers on our equipment as required by FAA law! There always going to be a few bad seeds out there don’t let the minority ruin it for everyone!
People say a drone was sitting there watching them? If a drone is close enough to see where the camera is pointing they could reach out and grab it! Just because a drone is hovering it doesn’t mean it’s watching you up close with a super telephoto lens! When it’s hovering the pilot is most likely seting something up like it’s courc or it’s having issues with the gps signal! I let my drones hang a lot while reviewing photos I took way before I let it hover! Maybe they saw something in the distance?
A productive use of drones is photography and video of RealEstate. Imagine that you wanted to sell your home and need the aerial perspective to help sell it but all your neighbors have geofenced you in. How frustrating would that be? A restriction of ground to 100 feet is much more reasonable.
I have watched a drone hover outside my daughter’s upstairs window taking photos just the other night. It is too far up to catch, certainly impossible to reach out and grab as they would back away as their target advanced and it is illegal to shoot it down. I might also mention that over the last weeks that we’ve been hearing it weve also been having a lot of trouble with our previously speedy wifi.
I’m certain that most drone enthusiasts are good people with no desire to cause harm but you cannot overlook the people who use drones for many harmful purposes. Consider casing residences, stalking young women (or men), violating privacy for the purposes of gaining photographs and just plain old harassing people.
I am a woman in my 50s with a chronic disease taking care of my mother in her 80s with my daughter in her 20s. It’s just us. For over 10 years we have been harassed by one form or the other. While not the most violent it is frightening and we should certainly have some recourse other than being told to call the police. By the time they get here the drone operator sees them coming and retreats.
We are 2 1/2 miles from an airport btw.
I began looking into making my property a no fly zone because we have an eagle’s nest on it. If the nest remains fertile… the eagles will return to it. I want to do whatever I can to protect them. Most people have been respectful in staying off our property. We have had one drone fly by the nest. I wanted to prevent more from coming. We are in a suburb and close to a river. There are strong suggestions by the FWS about giving drones a guideline of 660 feet away during the breeding season and fledging season. There are other laws set up that protect eagles; but written before drones were available to the public. I’m thankful for this article and the comments. I’ve considered buying a drone because I love photography. Hopefully there will be a good solution for both sides.