Drone Survey Rights for Neighboring Property Owners

FAA Position

• The FAA has exclusive authority over the National Airspace System. Commercial drone

• operations are regulated under 14 CFR Part 107.

FAA Resources

• Part 107 Overview

• https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators

Current Part 107 Rules

• https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/small-unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas-regulations-part-107

Registration & Remote Pilot Information

• https://www.faa.gov/uas

Plain English

• If a commercial drone is legally flying under FAA regulations, the flight itself is governed primarily by federal aviation law—not by county or neighborhood rules.

FAA Position

• The FAA does not require a Part 107 pilot to obtain permission from every landowner whose property the aircraft passes over during a lawful flight.

• The FAA regulates aircraft in flight—not ownership of the land beneath them.

• However...this does not mean a pilot may ignore:

  • privacy laws

  • trespassing laws

  • harassment laws

  • nuisance claims

  • reckless operation

• Those are generally matters of state law.

• Florida has one of the strongest drone privacy statutes in the country.

  • Florida Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act

  • Florida Statute 934.50

  • https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/934.50

• The law prohibits using a drone equipped with an imaging device with the intent to conduct surveillance of private property or people where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy without consent.

Florida law defines surveillance as intentionally observing people or property in a manner that reveals:

• identity

• habits

• movements

• occupancy

• unique identifying features

• when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy

Our aircraft is collecting survey-grade topographic information of the project area.

We are not attempting to monitor neighboring homes or observe individuals.

Like most aerial mapping projects, we may briefly fly beyond property boundaries to safely turn the aircraft and ensure complete mapping coverage.

Images collected outside the project limits are incidental to the mapping process and are not the subject of the survey.

The drone cannot stop instantly.

Camera overlap is required for accurate mapping.

Turning outside the project area is often necessary.

Additional overlap improves survey accuracy.

A survey camera captures a large area with every photograph.

If a neighboring house appears in an image because it lies within the camera's field of view, that does not necessarily mean the drone operator is conducting surveillance.

The purpose of the image and how it is used matters under Florida law.

A neighboring property owner has the right to:

• Ask who is operating the drone.

• Ask what project is being performed.

• Ask for company contact information.

• Report unsafe drone operations to the FAA.

• Report suspected privacy violations to law enforcement.

• Contact the survey company with concerns.

• Conduct FAA-authorized commercial operations.

• Fly within FAA regulations.

• Fly over areas as necessary to safely complete the mission.

• Operate without obtaining permission from every adjacent landowner solely because the aircraft briefly passes overhead, provided the operation otherwise complies with applicable law.

Our company follows these practices:

• We do not intentionally inspect neighboring homes.

• We do not intentionally record people.

• We collect only the imagery necessary to complete the survey.

• Survey imagery is processed to produce engineering products—not to monitor private activities.

• Images are retained only as long as necessary for project requirements.

• Access to project data is restricted to authorized personnel.

https://www.faa.gov/uas

https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/934.50