I've done a lot of research on the Shadowrun setting, and the 5th edition system. I've never played any edition, but I'm not exactly new to the game (I hope that makes sense). Some friends recently started up a game of 3rd edition, and I was invited to play. A lot of things are similar and familiar, but a lot is different and alien as well. When I asked about the group, it sounded like most areas were covered, but the group had no rigger, and everyone was a meta-human. I'm happy to play a rigger, but I have to confess that it represents a weak point in my understanding of the setting.

All that setup just to ask this question:

What's the legal protocol on drone use in 3rd edition Seattle? I'm specifically asking about rotor drones being used for surveillance/tailing, but responses with a more general scope will be gratefully accepted as well. I understand the answer to most questions like these is along the lines of "Whatever works for your group," but I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of general and standard Shadowrun rigging.

You're looking at a few different legal things, here.

For one, the expectation of privacy has dropped. Reporters are known to record everything, so anything said in the presence of one is considered to be on the record (See Shadowbeat for more on that) ... extrapolating from that, it's reasonable to assume that anyone in public may be recorded without their permission, which is why all those cyber-eyes with cameras and ImageLink Glasses are the norm. That said, there are reasonable limits.

You cannot stalk someone, IE, have a stake-out outside someone's house, unless you're a legal private investigator/cop/reporter. Ongoing public harassment is out (Such as following someone around with a megaphone and yelling about how they ripped you off or whatever), nor may you break the sancitity of teh privacy of someone's home, assuming that they had reasonable precautions (For instance, if the blinds were closed, but you made a small hole in the wall and snaked in a camera, or hacked the house computer and were recording video from teh house) then that's an invasion of privacy. If, instead, they weren't taking a reasonable precaution (For example, had a window with the curtains wide open, where they stripped and then re-dressed), then it's a legal recording.

Police get to ignore lots of this with the right warrants of course, but it's safe to say that the overall "Surveillance Society" has tilted the laws a bit beyond whatwe've yet seen. It'd be interesting to look into a few things, such as thermal-scanning of homes (Used today to spy temperature variations in fields, such as marijuana farms, which sometimes "accidently" can houses for teh same info), or a refusal to broadcast your SIN while in a public area.

The move between 1984's influence on Cyberpunk and Brave New World's Cyberpunk, sloshed together with late80's stuff (Gangs running rampant! Police helpless against their firepower!) and modern stuff (Traffic cameras! PRISM and E-mail/celphone snooping! Militarization of the police!) can create some really neat things. Concerns from 20 years ago (The police have poopguns and no body armor, so the criminals bully them relentlessly) seem silly today, while many of our modern concerns will be laughable in a generation as well.

Fun stuff!

Okay, so if someone went out for a walk/drive/sail, etc ... and I wanted to know where he was going, or what route he took, could I reasonably expect to get away with sending a drone up to follow him? Or would I need something along the lines of a press pass, or law enforcement badge? Would a drone painted with the colors and logo of a courier/delivery service be less likely to catch Lone Star's attention, or would they not particularly care if a random drone is in the sky?

Wel, a drone following someone in particular would likely be spotted and probably commented on. A public figure, like a rocker or sim star or whatever is used to it and might make a token effort to shake it off, but, well, no such thing as bad publicity and all that. A private figure, like a salaryman or whatever would get skeeved out, first trying to ditch them (likely by going inside a building) then calling law enforcement afterwards. Once Lone Star, or whatever, shows up, they'll question teh drone/drone's pilot to produce certifications. If it all checks out? "Sorry Frank, everything's legit. Have a nice day." If the paperwork's out of line, they'll give you an order to back off and leave the person alone, probably issue a simple warning, and then wait a bit to give the person time to leave. If the drone follows, they'll impound it and toss a fine at the operator. If you let 'em go, they'll release the drone after a few minutes. If you THEN go chase the guy down and they get called in again, the situation has officially escalated and you don't want that.

Your better bet is to just hop from one public camera to another, flicking through traffic cameras, security cams in Mom's Old Candy Store, and so on. More work, but inconspicuous.

If a drone follows Koekepan, there may be a little while of hemming and hawing, perhaps scratching of jaw. Then it's decision time. Is the drone flying high, or low? If it's low, out comes mister 12-gauge. High, then it's time for .30-06. If it's real high, Koekepan calls a buddy for counter-droning.

Remember this story?
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/...-179983451.html

a drone sufficiently high in the air may not be distinguishable as following a particular person. obviously, you want to make sure you've got the right gear to be able to follow with such a drone, but even so, "sufficiently high" may be only a hundred meters or less if you're using a small enough drone

or, in other words, you can fairly easily make it rather hard for anyone to notice they're being followed. with a sufficiently wide field of vision, a drone following someone could easily appear to be doing nothing more than going in a certain general direction as well (that is, if you can see a 3 mile radius, you don't need to turn every time the person you're tracking turns).

another possibility would be to use multiple drones (of different appearance). if they see the same drone every time they look up, there's a chance they'll figure it's following them. less so if they see an LTA drone once, a delivery drone carrying a small package the second time, and a small toy helicopter or model airplane the third time.

IRL, private detectives and reporters do not have more rights to be somewhere or do something than anybody else, and I'm not aware that SR changes that

What SR does change is the issue of jurisdiction. I doubt Ares approves of your snooping...

The first, and most major issue Runners are going to face is that they as SINless they have NO legal standing. So any claims and paperwork will require forgery and hutzpah. Thus, the Runner Maxim of "Don't Get Caught, Ever!" will be your first and best refuge.