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Actually unless the operator knows you are shooting at it and taking evasive maneuvers, or it is on it's way to somewhere else and in a hurry, they will be very easy targets as long as they aren't real high up. A 12 gauge should easily be up to the task even with bird shot.
Generally speaking I would likely fly around 150 to 250 feet up unless I was over some geological feature that warranted being closer to. Heck, I have trees 70 ft. tall and better on my property that I would need to clear anyway. The wide angled lenses on these things are for WIDE ANGLE views to take in as much of the scenery as possible. Even closer to the ground the wide angle lens is there so that collision avoidance will be easier. Side swiping a tree or branch will likely bust a propeller and at least put the quad into an uncontrolled tumble to the ground. There have been accounts of geese attacking these things, so it's probably a good idea to yaw the camera every now and again to take a 360 look around.
I can't speak for government use of these things, but from a hobbyist perspective they certainly were not designed for spying on the neighbors. Heck, for that matter, I'm pretty sure the government can see anything they want in your yard with their satellites. What we can see with Google Earth is likely just exposing a fraction of the true capabilities of those satellite cameras.
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