Privacy in the Digital Age...

And now we have cameras set up in hotel rooms and Airbnb. And then those taking photos in dressing rooms of fitness centers. That's on top of drones used to take photos in windows.

The Airbnb for instance in most jurisdictions is just a misdemeanor. It only turns into a felony when disseminated or if someone less than a certain age. Even then very difficult to prosecute. I can see Airbnb defense now being "sorry, we have security cameras for when it's empty and forgot to turn those off when you checked in."

We've had the dressing room cameras and peepholes for decades. It's just technology has enhanced the ability to invade.

Then you get into battles on the "expectation of privacy." Do I have it 10 miles out to sea and on the flybridge? What about in my backyard at home? Even in a fitness center dressing room, do I? Look at famous people escaping to very private beaches and then bring photographed topless without their knowledge.

Just one more area our laws haven't kept up with our technology and another area in which all our states having different laws makes it far more difficult to ever catch up. It's like laws on taping conversations and phone calls that differ in every state. Florida is a "two party consent" state on audio recordings. That's gotten a lot of people in trouble. Now, Video is allowed unless in areas where privacy expected. So, it's fine to have video cameras recording throughout your house and on your property but if they have audio then they become illegal.

Florida has drone laws. The relevant one prohibits the use of a drone to capture an image of privately owned property or the owner, tenant, or occupant of such property without consent if a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. or purposes of this section, a person is presumed to have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his or her privately owned real property if he or she is not observable by persons located at ground level in a place where they have a legal right to be, regardless of whether he or she is observable from the air with the use of a drone.

So, by that in FL, if you can be seen by people not on your property at ground level then you have no expectation. If it requires flying a drone to photograph or see you, then they've violated.

Now, unfortunately, the only remedy is civil suit. There is no criminal act for which they can be arrested. Note one other thing missing from the law. When it says observable by persons at ground level, does it mean by the naked eye or using binoculars or using telescopes?

And that's just FL. Every state is different.

You have no idea how many times in the Bahmas the thought has crossed my mind to shoot down an annoying drone with a 12 gauge...….then the felon thought comes to mind immediately after the first thought!

Design something to solve that issue, and you'll be a billionaire!