SUAS have got their hands on what appears to be an internal US Army memo that instructs all troops to stop using DJI drones in the wake of heightened cyber security threats and vulnerabilities. The memo asserts that more than 300 separate releases authorizing the use of DJI products were issued by the US Army. This implies that an overwhelming amount of hardware must be in active use before the issuance of the memo, which dates back to 2nd August 2017.
Statement on DJI Drones
In a statement issued by DJI drone organizations, they said that enterprises and consumers from all over the world banked on their products to carry out sensitive operations. They expressed their surprise and disappointment over the reports of the DJI product’s embargo and asserted that they would be reaching out to the authorities soon so that they can get rid of the security vulnerabilities that the US Army has pointed out.
SUAS News has already laid several serious allegations regarding data gathered by DJI drones. The allegations claim that the company has been mining user data from flight logs to audio and visual data. Having said that, no evidence has cropped up ever since.
However, SUAS News also claim, and rightly so, that when a user decides to upload data to their SkyPixel accounts through the DJI App, it can be stored on DJI servers in the US, China, and Hong Kong. The data may include videos, audio, and other flight-related data such as distance, height, and position of your aircraft.
Once you fly new DJI drones, a user is required to register an account by the directives issued by FAA. Afterward, you do not require a mobile device to fly the drone. Some people use their smartphone for live broadcasting but most of them choose only to use the dedicated remote controller to capture images, videos and fly and control their device. The users can also fly their drone in Airplane mode with their mobile handheld device which makes sure that no data is uploaded on the internet. If you do want to share your data online, you can also choose DJI Goggles that get connected to the drone and offer a live video feed without having to connect to the cellular network to upload any sort of data.
