A 色色啦 man is facing voyeurism and harassment charges after allegedly听using a drone to record two women through their apartment unit’s windows earlier this year.听
The incident took place on March 1 outside an apartment building in the Beverly Street听and Dundas Street West area, near Grange Park and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
According to court documents obtained by the Star, a 32-year-old man was arrested on March 18 and charged with one count of voyeurism after a drone听was used听to “surreptitiously observe”听and “make a visual recording of a person who was in circumstances that gave rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The accused is also facing charges of harassment related to “besetting or watching,” according to the description of charges reviewed by the Star.
Flying drones can pose a privacy risk, especially in dense, urban areas where people live close together听in highrise apartment buildings.听
Ann Cavoukian, executive director of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre and Ontario鈥檚 former three-term information and privacy commissioner,听told the Star in 2023 Canada鈥檚 privacy laws haven鈥檛 kept pace with the advancing technology.
鈥淭his is a potentially dangerous, harmful direction that this is going with the use of unmanned drones and activity of this nature,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t just clearly has the potential to invade privacy.”
Cavoukian said she believes there should be tougher regulations limiting where drones can fly, specifically around personal residences.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where a lot of privacy-related activity takes place,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think drone use (in those areas) should be permitted, period.鈥
Canada鈥檚 current privacy laws do not explicitly mention drones, but the government said that the laws apply to pictures, videos and other information potentially collected by the technology. It also noted that some violations to a person鈥檚 privacy may go beyond privacy laws and 鈥渕ay be offences that result in charges,鈥 such as voyeurism or mischief.
In a report released more than a decade ago, in 2013, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada noted drones continue to steadily improve, 鈥渂ecoming smaller, cheaper and smarter.”
鈥淒rone technology raises important questions and concerns about privacy,鈥 the report concluded. 鈥淭here is a gap in regulation, which does not address issues related to purpose and the privacy implications of their use.鈥
In order to legally fly a drone in Canada, operators must ensure their model weighs less than 250 grams. If a drone weighs more than that, a pilot must both register their drone and get a Pilot Drone Certificate, as well as follow the rules in the Canadian Aviation Regulations, according to the government.
With files from Joshua Chong
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