Peeping Toms Using Camera Drones to Spy on You, TODAY Warns

As if camera drones haven’t gotten enough bad publicity lately thanks to reckless operators flying them near airports, at airplanes, and into helicopters, The TODAY Show just aired this alarming report on how peeping toms are using camera drones to spy on you in your home.

In the 4.3-minute segment above, TODAY reports that creepy incidents have been reported nationwide, including drones peering at young girls through a bathroom window, spying on a woman in her high-rise apartment (who says she “then realized [she] had no clothes on”), and being used by a man arrested for voyeurism.

“If a drone were spying on your in your home or backyard, would you even know? Not necessarily,” TODAY writes. “TODAY national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen stages a revealing demonstration to show how easily you could become a victim of a ‘peeping drone’ – and explains what you can do about it.”

Fstoppers is calling this report a “fear-mongering piece” that will only make life harder for law-abiding photographers and drone operators. And commenters on the YouTube video seem to agree. Here’s a sampling of the top comments so far:

“I gotta unsubscribe after this one, cover something worth while. No one does this, all you do is ruin it for hobbyist that would never waste time trying to peep on someone. Get real …. FAKE NEWS” —chooch tech [#]

“Lolol what a joke. I can assure you the avg drone operator isn’t trying to spy on you.” —MMM Productions [#]

“Grossly over dramatized, but then, what is not over dramatized now in the media? That is how they make their money. The average flyer is no more interested in what’s going on inside your house than the average pedestrian! A very small percentage of hobbyist flyers would even fly in a residential environment, preferring to choose much friendlier open spaces.” —gerbear [#]

“What a load of horse dung! Where is the audio of the drone? You may not see it but you sure would hear it if it were that close to your house. Come on Mr. Rossen..” —Thomas Groark [#]

Governments have been cracking down on drones in recent years as they’ve been exploding in popularity. In late 2017, the UN called for a global drone registration database and Trump signed mandatory personal drone registration back into law after a federal court previously ruled that it wasn’t necessary.

If you’d like to read up on the drone laws in your country, there’s a helpful map online that can bring you up to speed.