Don't Bring Your Drone To New Zealand

NewtonsLaw writes: Personal drones are changing the way some people experience vacations. Instead of toting along a camcorder or a 35mm DSLR, people are starting pack a GoPro and, increasingly, a drone on which to mount it. This is fine if you're going to a drone-friendly country, but be warned that your drone will get you into big trouble in Thailand (where all use of drones by the public is banned outright) and now in New Zealand, where strict new laws regarding the operation of drones (and even tiny toys like the 20g Cheerson CX10) come into effect on August 1.

Under these new rules, nobody can operate a drone or model aircraft without getting the prior consent of the owner over which property it is intended to fly — and (this is the kicker) also the permission of the occupiers of that property. So you can effectively forget about flying down at the local park, at scenic locations or just about any public place. Even if you could manage to get the prior permission of the land-owner, because we're talking "public place," you'd also have to get the permission of anyone and everyone who was also in the area where you intended to fly.

Other countries have produced far more sane regulations — such as limiting drone and RC model operators to flying no closer than 30m from people or buildings — but New Zealand's CAA have gone right over the top and imposed what amounts to a virtual death-sentence on a hobby that has provided endless, safe fun for people of all ages for more than 50 years. Of course if you are prepared to pay a $600 fee to become "Certified" by CAA then the restrictions on where you can fly are lifted and you don't need those permissions.

Comments

Re:More Sanity

[bobbied]

Exactly this.

This seems like a very reasonable law to me. I would only add one more provision though.

I think that they could designate some common public areas in which you could fly and anybody who entered the are giving implicit permission to have drones flying around them. That way, if you don't want a drone dive bombing you and taking HD video, you just stay away from the areas where it's allowed. There would have to be a "fair warning" signage requirement, but leave it up to the local authorities who are enforcing the "no drone" rule to decide where to allow drones.

Re:Yep

[Shoten]

No, and there is no expectation of privacy in public places.

But this is about more than just public places.

I have a backyard that's entirely screened from my neighbors with foliage. I don't have anything particularly interesting going on in there, but by the definition of what provides a reasonable expectation of privacy, my backyard is private. You can't see what's back there with just a casual glance from outside my land; you have to use specific means to do it. If there were a drone flying around, looking down at me while I was back there grilling or whatnot, I have to say it would bug me. And the law sides with me on that front, just as it would if I were complaining about someone climbing up a tree to get a peek inside a second-story window of my home.

I do get the angst over this; I think New Zealand is going way, way too far. But let's face it...the kiwis have taken PC and liberalism to an extreme. (Hell, I'm not even a conservative, and I think they're way overboard.) But on the other hand, this seems to be what their populace wants, since they keep voting in people who do things like this. I would say that if we don't like it, we can simply stay out of New Zealand. There are other places to experience pretty much anything New Zealand has to offer, with the single exception of some over-the-top LoTR cosplay done "on location."