Skip to main content

Data Security

See All Stories

DJI responds to US bill seeking blanket ban on its drones

dji drone ban us bill

Tech giant DJI has provided a detailed response to legislation that seeks to ban its drones in the US. If passed, the “Countering CCP Drones Act” would prevent operators from buying the latest DJI drones — and may also potentially ground existing fleets, regardless of how operators use them — because it would prohibit DJI from operating on US communications infrastructure. The bill has already advanced to clear a Congress committee hearing.

Expand Expanding Close

DJI responds to data security accusations driving drone blacklists

DJI blacklist drone

The world’s leading drone maker DJI has clearly had enough of the recurring accusations about the data security of its craft, and the attendant blacklists drawn up by US political leaders offering no substantiation of their claims. In response, the company has issued a rare clarification about the steps it takes to secure user information on its craft.

Expand Expanding Close

Teledyne FLIR poll finds data leak risks a significant yet middling factor in drone-buying decisions

Disneyland drone

In spite of the rash of largely protectionist blacklisting initiatives in the US justified by nominal data piracy motives, a new survey commissioned by drone and onboard tech specialist Teledyne FLIR indicates information leak risks remain a middling UAV purchasing criterion for US enterprise and public administrations operators.

Expand Expanding Close

We’re not a data company, we just make drones: DJI

dji data privacy

As the backlash against it continues to grow, DJI insists it’s getting even more focused on data privacy. For the last five years, DJI has had a team of 30 devoted entirely to the privacy and data security features of its products. Collectively, this team has contributed more than 300,000 hours to bolster DJI’s apps, servers, chipsets, and firmware, the company says.

Expand Expanding Close

Ring’s Always Home Cam security drone for sale on Amazon… by invitation

Ring Always Home drone

It’s been nearly a year since the Ring’s Always Home Cam was unveiled at Amazon’s hardware event, and the reasons to love or hate the household security drone have been unrestrainedly shouted ever since. Now consumers are finally getting the chance to adopt the aerial watchdog, and either adore or detest it in their very own abode, sweet abode.

Expand Expanding Close

Parrot and WISeKey aim to set global data protection standards

French drone manufacturer Parrot has partnered with digital security specialist WISeKey to reinforce protection of data collected and transmitted by Parrot craft. As part of that, the pair will also work toward a more ambitious goal of hardware and communication system protection of data that may serve as the basis for global security standards for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Expand Expanding Close

DJI responds to drone order from the U.S. Department of Interior

DJI responds to U.S. Department of Interior drone order

Today the U.S. Department of Interior issued an order that basically grounds their entire Chinese-made drone fleet except for in a few special situations such as fire fighting and search and rescue missions. Understandably, DJI is not at all pleased with this order and responds to the U.S. Department of Interior drone order issued the following statement.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Interior Department grounds drone fleet with new order issued today

Interior Department grounds drone fleet with new order issued today

After temporarily grounding its fleet of drones last year, the U.S. Interior Department grounded its drone fleet after issuing an order today to formally adopt a no-fly rule aimed at drones made in China or with Chinese parts. Exceptions will be made for those situations in which drones are needed to respond to natural disasters or other emergencies.


Expand
Expanding
Close

All DJI drones in US Interior Department’s fleet grounded amid review

All DJI drones grounded by US Interior Department amid review

On Wednesday, the same day that DJI launched the DJI Mavic Mini, the US Department of the Interior announced that all DJI drones and other Chinese-made unmanned aircraft or UAVs that contain Chinese-made parts in its fleet are to be grounded as part of a review of the department’s drone program. This is the latest threat to DJI’s drone business in the United States.


Expand
Expanding
Close

DJI drones banned by tech supplier to US law enforcement agencies in favor of Skydio

DJI drones banned by tech supplier to U.S. law enforcement agencies in favor of Skydio

DJI drones banned by Cape, a drone software company that supplies US law enforcement agencies. It said that because of security concerns it will no longer work with DJI or other Chinese drone manufacturers. The tech company supplies dozens of public safety agencies as well as state and local law enforcement in the U.S and some other countries.


Expand
Expanding
Close

US Department of the Interior independently validates DJI Government Edition

U.S. Dept. of the Interior independently validates DJI Government Edition

It seems that DJI is finally getting a break from concerns that various government agencies have expressed about the security of the data captured by DJI’s drones. After an independent 15-month testing program that included thousands of drone flights with models such as the DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Matrice 600 Pro, the Department of the Interior (DoI) has validated and approved the DJI Government Edition.

When the DoI started testing in April 2018, the newer Mavic 2 Pro, Zoom and Enterprise Edition had not yet hit the market, so were not included in the test. DJI told DroneDJ that testing has not yet started on the newer Mavic 2 drones, as the Mavic Pro and Matrice 600 tests have just been finished.

See DJI’s press statement below for all the details.


Expand
Expanding
Close

DJI’s official response to DHS alert: Your data is not our business

DJI's official response to DHS alert: Your data is not our business

In response to the DHS Alert from earlier this week, that caused quite some commotion after being picked up by major news outlets, DJI has posted their official response on the DJI Hub website. The drone maker says that their customers’ data is none of their business. They state that their goal is to provide a “reliable drone platform” and that their drones exceed or meet the DHS recommended mitigating measures. In DJI’s response, the company outlines five recommendations to keep your data safe.

Over the last few years, concerns about DJI’s data handling and security have flared up a number of times. With this week’s headlines, it seems that DJI gets sucked into the escalating trade war between the United States and China. Is the Chinese drone maker at risk of being viewed like another Huawei? A ban on buying DJI drones and products for US companies would be a significant blow to all the organizations and agencies that have come to rely on DJI’s drones to do good. Many rescue workers, police, and fire departments use DJI’s products to help save people’s lives. And, as unfortunate as it may be, there is currently hardly any alternative (except maybe the Parrot Anafi Thermal) for DJI’s capable AND affordable drones for many of these organizations.

If you, or your organization, are impacted by the data security concerns around DJI’s drones, we would like to hear from you either in the comments below or per email. Thank you!

For DJI’s official statement and their recommendations to keep your data safe while using DJI’s drones keep reading.


Expand
Expanding
Close

DHS warns that Chinese-made drones, including DJI’s, might be stealing sensitive data

DHS warns that Chinese-made drones, including DJI’s, might be stealing sensitive data

On Monday, the U. S. Department of Homeland Security expressed ‘strong concerns’ that Chinese-made drones, including DJI’s aircraft, could potentially be sending sensitive flight information to their China-based manufacturers, where it could be accessed by the Chinese government. The warnings from DHS follow the executive order from President Trump against Huawei and are the latest development in the escalating trade war between the United States and China.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Kivu’s report on DJI’s UAV Data Transmission and Storage practices – Are DJI drones really spying for China?

Kivu Report - DJI - Data Security and Storage

Last Monday, we wrote about the Kivu report’s findings. Today we are taking a closer look as DJI has sent us a copy of the full report. Because of competitive reasons the Chinese drone maker has requested us not to post the entire report online or share any of the images. However, we are free to share segments of the text with you. The 27-page document is the result of Kivu Consulting’s forensic investigation of DJI’s UAV Data Transmission & Storage practices and contains information about Kivu’s methodology, analysis, findings, and explains up to a degree what information is collected and to which servers it is going. For their investigation, Kivu independently bought a DJI Spark, Mavic Pro, Phantom 4 Pro and Inspire 2 model drones as well as a Huawei Honor 5x smartphone with the Android operating system and an iPhone SE running iOS. We went through the entire report to see if any new information came to light and to see where your information might be going to.


Expand
Expanding
Close

DJI releases findings of Kivu report to stem concerns that China might use DJI’s drones to spy on the U.S.

DJI releases findings of Kivu report to stem concerns that China might use DJI's drones to spy on the U.S.

Last year DJI dealt with a number of cybersecurity-related issues, including a hot-patch mechanism in their DJI Go 4 app, a researcher who found sensitive user data accessible on Amazon Web Services servers, the U.S. Army declaring to no longer use DJI drones, a claim from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that DJI drones could perform facial recognition and U.S. officials who wondered whether DJI was sending sensitive information back to China. Today, DJI released the summarized findings of an independent report, but paid for by DJI, from Kivu Consulting, Inc. in a response to these allegations. Kivu concluded that “users have control over the types of data DJI drones collect, store, and transmit.


Expand
Expanding
Close