# 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:** 2
**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, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/21 "2013-07-21T23:56:05Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > 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. That’s going to depend on the power. A single flashlight won’t blind me, but 10,000 will. Will a green laser that can damage your eye make a noticeable hot spot on your finger? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/22 "2013-07-21T23:59:33Z")
Why are you suddenly worried about your property being viewable from airplanes? Why are you more afraid of certain models of airplane? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/23 "2013-07-22T00:03:20Z")
I imagine someone will market/distribute radio-jamming devices to knock out the smaller drones. I shouldn’t want to spend more than a few minutes a day on such defenses though. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/24 "2013-07-22T00:32:51Z")
> [@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? :dubious: Seriously? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/25 "2013-07-22T00:51:47Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Why are you suddenly worried about your property being viewable from airplanes? Why are you more afraid of certain models of airplane? I am, as always, concerned about invasions of my privacy. An airplane several thousands of feet up, with no cameras, poses little threat. OTOH, a drone is designed to do nothing other than invade the privacy of others. ---
**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 22, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/26 "2013-07-22T01:53:32Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I imagine someone will market/distribute radio-jamming devices to knock out the smaller drones. I shouldn’t want to spend more than a few minutes a day on such defenses though. And those would be illegal, too. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/27 "2013-07-22T01:56:28Z")
I’m sure a War on Radios would be a good use of national resources. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/28 "2013-07-22T02:02:36Z")
> [@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. 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. They need to scale up the [anti-mosquito laser system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser). ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/29 "2013-07-22T02:13:23Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > What about an IR laser, which wouldn’t harm (I don’t think?) a human pilot, but might blind a CCD camera? IR lasers do damage eyes, and are arguably more dangerous to people because you don’t see that it’s shining in your eye and look away. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/30 "2013-07-22T11:59:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > \*\*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. So I can’t foil a drone, but I can foil my head? That was actually Plan B. 🙂 I really just wanted to know about passively resisting domestic drone spying. Sounds like it’s nearly impossible. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/31 "2013-07-22T12:05:44Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I am, as always, concerned about invasions of my privacy. > An airplane several thousands of feet up, with no cameras, poses little threat. > OTOH, a drone is designed to do nothing other than invade the privacy of others. I should have explicitly stated that this was a hypothetical situation. I rent in a city, no yard. Whether one is doing something illegal is not the only determinant of interaction with the authorities, and yeah, the invasion of privacy is a bit of a concern. ---
**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 22, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/32 "2013-07-22T13:12:07Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I’m sure a War on Radios would be a good use of national resources. The use of radio jamming equipment has been illegal since probably the 1930s. It’s also profoundly reckless to force a flying object, weighing anywhere from 10 pounds to 10,000 pounds, to lose control and perhaps crash into something. If someone were to jam a signal as was proposed, and the aircraft became uncontrollable, struck and killed someone, the person jamming the signal would probably be guilty of murder. ---
**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 22, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/33 "2013-07-22T13:20:55Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > OTOH, a drone is designed to do nothing other than invade the privacy of others. Or deliver pizza. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/34 "2013-07-22T13:29:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > 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?) Bill Holman? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/35 "2013-07-22T15:53:51Z")
No communication is 100% reliable. I would hope that unmanned drones will have a “fly to these GPS coordinates over the lake and auger in” backup plan in case they lose communication with the pilots. Still not a good idea to jam them, but I doubt they’d crash into a school or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Bremidon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Bremidon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bremidon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/36 "2013-07-22T17:37:31Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > No communication is 100% reliable. I would hope that unmanned drones will have a “fly to these GPS coordinates over the lake and auger in” backup plan in case they lose communication with the pilots. Still not a good idea to jam them, but I doubt they’d crash into a school or anything. No Problemo. You just need to send faked GPS signals to the drone to make it think that the backup landing spot is your backyard. Presto! You are now the proud owner of a drone 🙂 Bonus points if you go on the Internet and brag about it. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/37 "2013-07-22T22:37:53Z")
Forget the laser and just go with LED’s. Particularly infared led’s. Won’t be noticable to you (or the neighbor checking out your hot wife/GF/sister/daughter through his telescope), but it’ll turn the area into whitish blur for most optical cameras. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/38 "2013-07-22T22:57:54Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I am, as always, concerned about invasions of my privacy. > An airplane several thousands of feet up, with no cameras, poses little threat. If you’ve ever looked at your house on Google Earth, you have seen that airplanes with cameras have already flown over your house and invaded your privacy. People in some urban areas have had police surveillance aircraft (manned drones oh no) over their homes for **decades**. The government already has the capability to put **actual people** right over your house to look at your stuff. > [@aNewLeaf](#): > > OTOH, a drone is designed to do nothing other than invade the privacy of others. The main function of a drone is flying without a pilot on board. Any other functions are secondary. Drones do not have to look at your stuff, and your stuff can be looked at from the air without a drone. Drones are irrelevant to what you want to do. What you need is superiority over all airspace near your home. The UK was able to do this in the Battle of Britain with a little under 2,000 airplanes; do you have 2,000 airplanes? ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/39 "2013-07-23T01:56:11Z")
Blanketing the area with IR is probably the best bet. It would obfuscate everything with a white haze. Until they switch to UV, but, you could blanket the area with both UV and IR! You’d have to go out in a suit to protect yourself from the IR and UV. But, at least you are keeping it local. Also, now, you totally have the interest of the authorities as who would go through all that trouble? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108/40 "2013-07-23T04:25:54Z")
Of course, it will be as illegal to interfere with a drone as it is to interfere with police radar or to trash red light cameras. If the “obstruction of justice” or “interfering with a criminal investigation” law in your locale does not already stretch to cover it, then there will shortly be an amendment to it. The crashing a disabled drone into a car scenario may sound a bit like hyperbole, but at the very least you are responsible for property damage and at the most, various FAA laws about interfering with a pilot will also apply to the remote operator. As for camouflage, it depends what they are looking for and what you are trying to hide. If you have, say, a grow-op and want to hide the heat exhaust, IR lighting may not work. Maybe you need to do real disguise, and over-insulate the house and run the air conditioner as a heat pump into a giant swimming pool… Spray a cool mist over the house and see if that works, etc. If you want to disguise outbuildings, well, all you can do is put them underground or insulate really well - good luck hiding a buried building during construction. If you are trying to hide the number of vehicles or people coming and going - good luck with that. IIRC the recent tax clampdown in Greece, they used Google Earth to identify people who did not pay taxes for having swimming pools. (I’m reminded of the Cheech and Chong movie with the pool painted on the cover of their grow-op building… The trouble with most schemes is they draw attention to you. That’s not good when the police are perfectly capable of using that as a reason to look closer. If they already suspect you, positive steps to stop their spying will just add to their curiosity. Camouflage works for the military because the other side can’t just drive up and knock on the door if the cameras are blocked. In this case, drone protection is like encrypting your email - makes you stand out like a sore thumb, unless almost everyone does it. Then you just blend in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foiling-domestic-drones/664108.md?page=3)