It’s A-Ok to shoot down drones!

Apparently Switzerland is no longer neutral when it comes to the drone menace
The article and the lawyer's ideas seem to be based on the common fantasy that drones are god for spying on people.
But the remote-controlled craft can also be used by for spying on individuals or taking unauthorized photos – for example of people sunbathing on their balcony.
But Basel lawyers Jascha Schneider-Marfels and Sebastian Kaufmann say that according to their interpretation of the law, people who are being spied upon by drones are justified in shooting them down. If a private detective uses a drone to spy on an adulterous couple or a jilted lover takes topless photos of his ex on her balcony this constitutes an attack on the personal sphere in which case self-defence is justified, the lawyer said.
That's a great hypothetical scenario ... except that drones are a bout the worst possible spying device.
I doubt that these lawyers have ever had a case like the one they imagine.
Their line of reasoning would however, lead to cases of people shooting down drones that they wrongly imagine to be spying on them.
 
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The article and the lawyer's ideas seem to be based on the common fantasy that drones are god for spying on people.
But the remote-controlled craft can also be used by for spying on individuals or taking unauthorized photos – for example of people sunbathing on their balcony.
But Basel lawyers Jascha Schneider-Marfels and Sebastian Kaufmann say that according to their interpretation of the law, people who are being spied upon by drones are justified in shooting them down. If a private detective uses a drone to spy on an adulterous couple or a jilted lover takes topless photos of his ex on her balcony this constitutes an attack on the personal sphere in which case self-defence is justified, the lawyer said.
That's a great hypothetical scenario ... except that drones are a bout the worst possible spying device.
I doubt that these lawyers have ever had a case like the one they imagine.
Their line of reasoning would however, lead to cases of people shooting down drones that they wrongly imagine to be spying on them.
Yes. And revenue for them.

Oops. Did I just say that out loud? ;-)
 
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'Good for spying' is in the eye of the beholder.

But since they can in fact obtain images in some cases where it would otherwise be difficult to furtively then the argument then becomes a matter degrees or what is good.

If you apply that to the term spying then it's difficult to say they cannot be used and thus is possibly a concern to some.
 
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I'd be curious to hear what the Swiss Air Regs say about interfering with an aircraft in flight. I know it is a pretty serious offense under the criminal code in my jurisdiction.
 
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