A Vancouver man called police Sunday after spotting what appeared to be a peeping drone from his 36th-storey downtown condo.
Conner Galway was having dinner on his patio at around 8:30 p.m. when a noisy — and seemingly nosy — guest dropped in unannounced.
“I heard this loud buzzing sound, like a pack of bees, then over the corner of the patio came this robot-looking thing,” he said.
The camera-equipped drone hovered about five feet away from the patio for a minute, then flitted from apartment to apartment for an hour in Galway’s Crosstown neighbourhood near Rogers Arena before disappearing.
Later, close to 11 p.m. Galway spotted the drone’s green and red lights through the slats of his bedroom window blinds. It buzzed around outside for at least an hour.
Galway took photos and video of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). He posted a video on YouTube Monday that showed a green speck giving off a loud electronic hum flying between high-rises in the dark.
He also snapped a photo of the drone flying in front of glass-enclosed condo units.
“The future is creepy,” wrote Galway on Twitter.
Galway said a camera was clearly visible on the drone, but he is not sure if it was filming.
The experience has left him uneasy, his sense of privacy violated. It also left Galway, a director of an advertising agency who had worked with drones in the past, frustrated.
“Personally I love drones and the possibilities they have,” he said. “But when people start doing things like this and using drones in unsafe ways, they’re taking something already scary to some people and making it terrifying.”
Galway reported the incident to Vancouver Police, which is investigating.
Police had said it would only investigate drone use if the machines are used for criminal purposes, such as for voyeurism, or if the drone caused injury or damage through negligence.
As drones become cheaper and more popular, Galway’s run-in with the drone is only the latest in a series of incidents that raise concerns on proper drone use and privacy.
Under current Canadian law, anyone can fly a UAV weighing less than 35 kilograms if they fly under 400 feet.
In July, a drone flying too close to a commercial airplane landing at Vancouver International Airport spurred a police investigation. There have also been issues with drones flying too close to a forest fire in the B.C. Interior, into fireworks in Florida, and hovering over suntanning women at a beach in California.
Galway believes the person controlling the snooping drone might just have bought it off the Internet and wanted to play with his a “remote-control toy” without considering the consequences.
Galway said he does not want extra regulations around drone use. Instead, he hopes his story can raise awareness and promote smarter practices.
“It’s important we treat them like what they are, which are transportation vehicles flying through the air.”
