I hear a lot about concerns regarding privacy in connection with people flying drones / Phantoms.
I see news predicting doom because the rise of drones. But really, how much knowledge is there with the people expressing all those concerns?

Many people think that if they see a Phantom through their windows, then automatically the drone operator will have a clear image of themselves. This is not the case. There are limitations with the cameras used on a small drone, like Phantom. And the clarity of the image decreases with the distance (also, the window wil reflect some light, too).
I think it should be understood that there's a big difference in seeing a drone 200-300 feet away vs one next to your window / house.

It's common sense not to fly close to somebody's house. I wouldn't like to see a drone staying put over my property but I don't mind flying objects traveling over my house (as long as they don't create a hazard and too much noise).
Maybe it will be a good idea to lower the floor of navigable airspace (from 500 feet, right now) based on the weight and noise produced by the object/drone moving in the sky. According to FAA, drones shouldn't go higher than 400 feet and we shouldn't fly them out of line of sight.  

While flying recreational drones for photography, video, fun is one thing, I don't think it's a good idea to oppose progress and not allow drones to be used for commercial purposes (fast deliveries, search and rescue, commercial photography and videography, etc).

What is your opinion?

It makes me laugh, privacy is nothing more than a state of mind.  When you realise you have no privacy things start to get a little clearer.  Now out of respect for others its common sense not to harass and deliberately film people on their own yard, but there are satellites that can identify your wife's bikini  if they wanted.  Then there is Google earth - Street View, CCTV on streets, internet data capture including ALL the sites you visit and ALL your e-mails.

And these people moan about a little plastic copter that at 400ft produces images that looks just like google earth.  I only agree with concerns over safety,  lets face it no one wants a drone in you green house or worse, and I agree that filming should not be invasive obsessive harassment or Voyeurism.

I would welcome a registration system & certification test whereby we can fly over towns and villages and capture live day to day video. Its a sit it out and see game.  I regard the Phantom Vision range as a semi-pro system when comparing it to the parrot range of UAV/S.

If people want privacy, they can close their blinds.  There is no expectation of privacy out in the open.   Bunch of cry babies.  Most of those complaining are the ones most people would not want to even cast a glance at.

kjkisatsky@comc Posted at 2014-12-15 03:01
If people want privacy, they can close their blinds.  There is no expectation of privacy out in the  ...

It seems that some people won't close their blinds (not even at night time). They'll even keep their doors open and still complain about the lack of privacy
Really, there's too much false information regarding how much a Phantom can be used for "invasion of privacy"...

And others will rush to come up with restrictions on technology they have no clue about (and without any serious study to support such restrictions, except that usual "a pilot reported that he saw a drone - a near collision was avoided by the awsome skills of the pilot who maintained his course, hundreds of feets above the awful Phantom", "I'm really annoyed by my neighbor because he flies his drone over his property and I'm very concerned about my privacy", etc).

Really, why all this general hysteria about very light drones using the 200-400 feet airspace for taking very nice pictures / movies?

When and if authorities lose the Privacy scenario, they will beat you over the head the safety scenario, they are already doing this to some degree already.  They will play either or;  to reach the goal - whichever works for them.

There are legitimate safety concerns though, without clear legislation it will be like the 'the old wild west' with everyone just doing what they want and where they want, and that spells trouble. Common sense is in short supply it seems.