A Seattle woman who thought she had enough privacy to be “walking around indecent” in her 26th-floor apartment on a Sunday was startled when a drone appeared outside her window.
Turns out — after the woman’s concierge called the police, setting off a minor media feeding frenzy — that the drone was one of six used by Skyris Imaging to shoot pictures for architects, real estate agents and developers, USA Today reports.
Skyris Imaging founder Joe Vaughn said the drone that startled Lisa Pleiss was taking pictures for a developer planning to build a high-rise office building.
Before Vaughn stepped forward, some news reports speculated that the drone was operated by a “peeping Tom.”
The FAA this week warned Realtors and others who use drones for commercial purposes that they can’t claim to be hobbyists, and are “subject to all existing FAA regulations, as well as future rule-making action.” The FAA maintains it has the right to fine commercial drone operators that it hasn’t certified.
According to USA Today, the FAA just certified the first commercial use of a drone over land this month. Source: usatoday.com.
