# Foiling Domestic Drones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108 "2013-07-21T14:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/1 "2013-07-21T14:20:35Z")
With what seems like the inevitability of domestic drones being used for law enforcement, would it he legal to make the airspace above your house/yard unviewable and/or inaccessible? I’m thinking of camouflage netting or something similar. I do not need answer fast. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/2 "2013-07-21T14:24:42Z")
I don’t see how you could outlaw camo netting without also outlawing awnings, parasols and gazebos. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/3 "2013-07-21T14:25:38Z")
Good way to draw attention. Awnings and patio umbrellas would do much the same without looking suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/4 "2013-07-21T14:45:44Z")
What are you doing in your back yard that you’re worried the government will find out about and/or which can’t already be discovered by looking at Google Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/5 "2013-07-21T15:47:07Z")
Well hiding from Google Earth seems like a better reason than hiding from the man. If the man is interested in you then there’s not much you can do about it. But that’s no reason to make it easy on every marketer looking for suckers to sell crap to. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/6 "2013-07-21T15:55:34Z")
Fly a kite up, accidentally get caught in the drone’s rotor, crash into river. Easy-peasy. Model rockets can lift a few ounces, and small computer boards get smaller and smarter all the time. Might not be too hard to rig up an anti-drone rocket system. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/7 "2013-07-21T16:06:05Z")
Plant trees. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/8 "2013-07-21T16:28:28Z")
You could just [shoot the drones down](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/drone-hunting-colorado-172357477.html)… ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/9 "2013-07-21T17:35:19Z")
I have had the idea of inventing a system that would find drones and hit them with lasers to take out their camera optics. Of course, it would be a bummer if it blinded a pilot instead. I suppose you could do the same with a searchlight which would not have any lasting effects when the light is shut off. The glare would make photography impossible. The trick here is finding the tiny drone in a big sky. Oh, and properly marketing the system in Waziristan or wherever the money is. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/10 "2013-07-21T18:50:52Z")
Camo will defeat normal photography, only. (Even then, with roughly 100 years of tactical experience in reading camouflage, and similar experience improving lenses to pierce such defenses, along with newer computer technology to unmask such efforts, simple camouflage has little chance of actually defeating drone photography.) Throw in thermal imaging, radar, and electronic eavesdropping, and I doubt that the typical backyard privacy seeker has much of a chance. In order to actually defeat such spying, one would need to know the actual methods being used so as to exploit their weakness. Sufficient rock, (and, possibly, soil), would probably be enough to defeat a garden variety drone, (such as the state police might use), but I am not sure the depth to which one would have to go to truly defeat all the possible probes. Covering the area with alternating layers of lead and other electronics-defeating meshes would probably do it–although living above a big square patch of spy-defeating material might just bring more attention to one than simply letting them look might. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/11 "2013-07-21T19:43:23Z")
And then when a drone doing something like surveying for emerald ash borer infestation gets blinded and crashes to the earth, hitting the car carrying your wife and newborn child and leading to a fiery crash at the grocery store that takes out half a block and kills 17 people, will you be pleased that you stuck it to the man? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/12 "2013-07-21T20:06:36Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I have had the idea of inventing a system that would find drones and hit them with lasers to take out their camera optics. Serious question: Is this legal, or illegal, for an unmanned drone? Does it matter whether the drone is directly over your property, or how high? ETA: What about an IR laser, which wouldn’t harm (I don’t think?) a human pilot, but might blind a CCD camera? > [@](#): > > Of course, it would be a bummer if it blinded a pilot instead. Yeah. Don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/13 "2013-07-21T20:17:04Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > You could just [shoot the drones down](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/drone-hunting-colorado-172357477.html).. How cheaply can you buy a drone? If you can get it down to maybe $50, you can make some money shooting down your own drone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/14 "2013-07-21T20:37:03Z")
\*\*Foiling Domestic Drones? \*\* No, it’s impractical. They’re way up in the air and you’ll need a lot of rolls. Just form a hat out of foil and put it on your head. One layer shiny side up is sufficient for the current generation of drones. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/15 "2013-07-21T21:21:48Z")
Firing a laser at an aircraft is punishable by up to the years in Federal prison. It does not matter whether the aircraft is manned or unmanned. In fact, disabling a camera on an unmanned aircraft is almost as dangerous as blinding a pilot, because a drone’s camera is what is used to navigate. If you buy camouflage netting, it seems to run about $1,000 for a 30 by 40 foot roll. Considering it will probably get torn up by bad weather, and you would have to replace it once in a while, that’s a rather pricey option. Plus, depending on the quality of the camera, it may be possible to get low imaging angles to see under the canopy somewhat. I think the GQ answer is that the best way to avoid drone surveillance is to do nothing illegal or questionable. There’s a hundred million housing units in the country, and it is implausible to throughly rediculous to think that it is worth surveilling an unsuspicious house by aircraft. Big Brother obviously has more important things to do. And if you are doing illegal things on your property, why should anyone help you conceal them? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/16 "2013-07-21T21:21:54Z")
Please don’t interfere with [pizza delivery drones](http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/04/technology/innovation/dominos-pizza-drone/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/17 "2013-07-21T21:27:52Z")
Move into a cave. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/18 "2013-07-21T22:42:30Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > ETA: What about an IR laser, which wouldn’t harm (I don’t think?) a human pilot, but might blind a CCD camera? The legal aspects has been answered with the correct hard NO for domestic use (Waziristan is less clear) but I wanted to address the safety of IR lasers. The large majority of lasers used for cutting metals and other tough stuff are infrared. Care to stick your hand under the cutting beam? Or take a peek? I think most of the lasers used in advanced military projects for shooting stuff down ([Pew!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1) - [Pew!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_High_Energy_Laser)) are infrared but I’m having trouble finding cites at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/19 "2013-07-21T22:55:32Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > You could just [shoot the drones down](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/drone-hunting-colorado-172357477.html).. Why is the critter shown in the photo there called an “octocopter”? Just a journalistic illiteracy by whoever wrote the caption? [Quick, Henry, the Flit!](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kGNb335i_Dc/SfXnusE24YI/AAAAAAAAA0c/jsWepDNaFB0/s400/FLIT.jpg) (ETA: P.S.: Can you tell who drew that Flit ad?) ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/20 "2013-07-21T23:47:00Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > And then when a drone doing something like surveying for emerald ash borer infestation gets blinded and crashes to the earth, hitting the car carrying your wife and newborn child and leading to a fiery crash at the grocery store that takes out half a block and kills 17 people, will you be pleased that you stuck it to the man? Yes, this dramatic example explains exactly why we should welcome surveillance drones- For The Children. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108.md?page=2)