Letter of the Day | Burgeoning threat to rights to privacy by drones
Published:Thursday | November 12, 2020 | 12:10 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
The Charter of Rights deliberately prohibits any invasion of the privacy of our homes or of other property.
The advent of drones fitted with cameras has created new challenges for our right to privacy. Further, a trespass is defined in law as “entry to a person’s land or property without permission”. In fact, the English case of Lavender v Betts [1942] 2 All ER 72 PER Atkinson J. speaks to the strict application of the principle which states that “an act will be considered trespass if the act involves the slightest physical crossing of the boundary of the land in question”. It is my humble opinion that, were my neighbour to send a drone over my premises and photograph that premises, this act amounts to a criminal trespass and a breach of my right to privacy. The position may be different where the state, via the police, has reasonable suspicion regarding criminal activity, and obtains a search warrant to carry out surveillance on a citizen’s property with the use of drone technology. It is my view that the police should be warning citizens not to engage in drone invasion of other citizens’ privacy.
I can hardly see that a drone owner, whose drone is destroyed while over my property, has any chance of contesting that action in a criminal court. It may be time now to set up regulations which prohibit this invasive activity, to guarantee peaceful enjoyment of property by our citizens, and to ward off any invasion of their privacy.
BERT SAMUELS
Attorney-at-Law