There is a certain feeling of de javu you get when you read that an average Joe Bloggs took their drone out and abused it to break the law.

We mean… we are aware that there are drone idiots out there who have chosen some dangerous and really life-threatening ways to commit drone crimes.

The kind of crimes where drones brought whole airports to a complete stand still, flew dangerously close to aircraft white it was midair; even aircraft that is in the middle of carrying our rescue and recovery efforts.

The common drone criminal is the one who crashes his drone into trees or buildings in an attempt to bring some illicit drugs and communication devices to his friends in correctional facilities; or one who causes the stoppage of a premier league match because he wants an exclusive bird’s eye view of the match’s progress.

Now and again, we come across such incidents; and we cover them and how they ruin the day and add to the prejudice against commercial drones.

We do that because we do understand that – inasmuch as drone technology has been so revolutionary to industrial applications all over the world – there is an alternate reality where naughty individuals have deployed for criminal missions and criminal purposes.

But then comes days like yesterday; where you learn that even large corporates are walking the fine line between legal and illegal when it comes to using drones for murky purposes.

From the USA comes reports that insurance companies in the country are flying drones above people’s homes to find reasons to deny them insurance cover.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the insurance companies are using aerial images of homes as a tool to ditch properties seen as higher risk.

And they are doing that without the knowledge of the home owners.

To be frank, the companies are also using manned planes and high-altitude balloons too. But the drones are more convenient.

One of the home owners to fall victim to this id Cindy Picos, who lives in Northern California.

Ms Picos was dropped by her home insurer last month, ostensibly because her roof had “lived its life expectancy”.

Ms Picos said her insurer had used aerial photos of the roof as evidence. But then the insurer refused to show Ms Picos pictures of her own roof.

“I thought they had the wrong house,” said Picos, who lives in northern California. “Our roof is in fine shape.”

The home owner was so disgusted by her insurer’s actions that she hired independent inspector to get a second opinion. The inspector returned with the verdict that the roof had another ten years of life.

This did not help her though, as her insurer refused to reconsider its decision.

In their defence, the insurance companies say they have to take these images because they do not want to de defrauded by clients, who will hide details about their homes that could result in higher premiums.

“The array of photos is being sorted by computer models to spy out underwriting no-nos, such as damaged roof shingles, yard debris, overhanging tree branches and undeclared swimming pools or trampolines,” The report said.

“The red-flagged images are providing insurers with ammunition for nonrenewal notices nationwide.”

“No place is shielded: The industry-funded Geospatial Insurance Consortium has an airplane imagery program it says covers 99 percent of the U.S. population.”

Of course, questions have been raised about the ethics and legality of recording images of people’s property without their knowledge or consent.

Because the last time we checked, a lawyer did go on record to confirm that using a drone to spy on people in their homes was a crime; after a California mother claimed she had spotted a drone spying on her bathing daughter.

Moreover, this Rhode Island man was arrested in June last year for using his drone to ogle at naked women.

The California law on drone regulation spells out that no drone pilot can enter the airspace of a person to capture images without consent, nor can they take photos or record video of a person engaged in personal, private or familial activities without approval.

In the insurance industry, drones can be deployed onto properties for survey purposes to help insurers determine the true value of a property.

But doing that without the property owner knowing or even agreeing to it is new.