Can I fly a camera drone over houses and gardens?

Two rulebooks stack: EU drone law (Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945) and the GDPR. The drone side: operators of any camera drone must register in their country (one registration works EU-wide), most consumer drones fly in the “open” category with distance rules, and flights over “assemblies of people” are banned. The privacy side is where neighbours’ complaints actually land: a drone camera capturing identifiable people or private gardens is processing personal data, and the household exemption will not cover you once the lens leaves your own property — same Ryneš logic as fixed cameras. The practical rules: film your own property or open landscapes, not into windows and gardens; avoid loitering over neighbours (that is also where “harassment” starts legally); strip or blur identifiable people before publishing anything; and treat published drone footage of persons as needing the same justification as any published photo — see posting photos of others. If a drone keeps hovering over YOUR garden: document it (video, times), identify the pilot if visible, and report to the police or your aviation authority — national law handles trespass-by-drone, the DPA handles the filming. Do not shoot at, throw at or jam drones; that is how you become the defendant.