A bill passed by the Florida legislature and signed into law earlier this year expands Florida's Freedom from Unwanted Surveillance Act (F.S. 934.50) to prohibit the use of a drone to record images of private property, or the owners, occupants or invitees of such property, with the intent to conduct "surveillance," without their written consent. "Surveillance" is broadly defined under the law to include the observation of owners/occupants with sufficient clarity to be able to obtain information about their identity, habits, conduct, movements or whereabouts, and the observation of privately owned real property with sufficient clarity to be able to determine unique identifying features or its occupancy by one or more persons.
The prohibition only applies in situations where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. If a property owner is on his or her property and is not observable from ground level in a place where other people have a legal right to be, then a reasonable expectation of privacy is presumed to exist under the law. There are a number of exceptions, including the use of drones for aerial mapping in compliance with FAA regulations and assessing property for ad valorem taxation, however drone operators generally need to be aware of the potential for lawsuits under this new law. Not only does the law provide for a civil right of action against the drone operator in such instances but, if successful in the lawsuit, the property owner is entitled to recover its legal fees from the violator as well.
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