DJI, from Shenzhen, China, is a leader in the civilian drone industry, with a 77% market share in the U.S. Recently, however, things have changed. However, the situation has recently changed, and there is growing concern about the safety risks posed by Chinese-made drones.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 already prohibits U.S. government agencies from using or procuring Chinese-made UAS. Experts warn that Chinese drone companies could transmit user data and other information to the Chinese government, posing a serious threat to U.S. national security and public privacy. Like Huawei, which is also based in Shenzhen, DJI may be the subject of further concern by the U.S. government.
The Colorado Department of Public Safety has a forest fire prevention team that monitors conditions in the mountains in real time, without leaving the office. They use drones for observation and no longer need to send pilots to patrol the mountains.
Ben Miller, director of the Colorado Aerial Fire Elite Center, said, “Small drones are affordable for everyone. We’re able to do things with it that a normal aircraft would do, but at a much lower cost. “
Most of the drones used at the center are from Shenzhen, China-based DJI, a brand with a 77 percent market share in the U.S. drone market.
Price is a big factor for consumers, Miller said, but the trend is shifting.
In DJI’s case, it appears so,” Miller told VOA, “because of the subsidies from the Chinese government, DJI is quickly getting ahead of the curve and developing products much faster than other companies. However, the trend is changing, not because the U.S. is also beginning to subsidize drone development, but because of cybersecurity factors and legislative action by federal agencies, I think the bar is going to get higher.”
In August, the U.S. Department of Defense approved the federal government’s procurement and use of five U.S.-made small drones, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 prohibits U.S. government agencies from using or procuring Chinese-made unmanned aircraft systems.
John Venable, author of “Chinese-Made Drones: A Direct Threat Whose Use Should Be Curtailed,” a report released in August by the Heritage Foundation, warns that Chinese drone companies may be using Chinese drones. He warned that Chinese drone companies could transmit user data to the Chinese government, posing a serious threat to U.S. national security and public privacy.
The ongoing lawsuit against Shakespeare and Byte Jump, for example, shows that these cell phone apps generate data streams that are sent directly to Chinese companies,” Venable, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA. Under Chinese law, the Communist Party requires all companies to provide all this data to the Chinese government. So for us to believe that this data is not being used for malicious purposes is to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the facts. What we’re doing, and what the government is considering doing, is confirming DJI’s role in general and whether or not they are a malicious actor.”
Skydio is one of five U.S.-made drone companies recently approved by the U.S. Department of Defense. The company is confident that it will surpass Chinese companies in future market share, emphasizing that its commitment to data security and public privacy is beyond the reach of Chinese companies.
Brendan Groves, Skydio’s director of legal and policy affairs, told VOA, “Chinese companies have cornered the market, and other companies largely can’t compete with them because they can produce low-cost hardware. But we found that customers are looking for two things: People want a highly automated drone that can fly itself and provide a high level of safety. Skydio does both, but current Chinese manufacturers can’t do it.
Miller said the Aerial Fire Elite Center is considering purchasing additional drones from Skydio and will focus on using American products in the future. He believes people will choose American products for safety when prices are similar or not much different.
Miller is concerned that operating applications connected to Chinese products could lead to information leaks to Chinese servers and foreign intrusions into U.S. government networks.
I think the most serious thing is that while I’m using my phone to operate the drone, I need to be connected to the government network,” Miller said. That’s the root of the cybersecurity problem. The footage from the drone wasn’t the big problem, it was the fact that I was connected to the government network while using the device. The problem comes in the form of a potential breach in cybersecurity when connecting the drone device to the network.”
In addition to cybersecurity, Venable also warned that the use of Chinese-made drones could expose the personal information of the American public. He cited the example of some Chinese-made drones equipped with facial recognition systems, and video footage showing DJI providing such products to the Chinese government to monitor Uighurs at a train station in Xinjiang. If such a product is used extensively in the U.S., it is possible that someone with an axe to grind could identify the people filming through social media photos, and if the information is returned to the Chinese government, it would violate the privacy of the American public and even expose the location of political and civil rights figures. He suggested that the U.S. government add DJI to the list of entities to be sanctioned.
According to Venable, “These images of Uighurs, which DJI has contracted with the regional government to capture, actually contribute to imprisonment and abuse, and could potentially turn into a massacre-level act of terror against this community. With these connections in mind, we can begin to discuss adding DJI to the list of entities. And if DJI is in fact directly linked to the actions against the Uighurs, then we can determine that connection and immediately add DJI to the list of entities, which would have an even greater impact on their ability to sell their products in the U.S. and work with commercial institutions.”
During the New Canopy outbreak, China donated hundreds of drones to local governments in the U.S., allowing authorities to monitor people’s social distances and broadcast notifications when people get too close, Venable said. He argued that this is inappropriate when data protection is still unclear and the federal government is aware of the threat of Chinese-made drones, but state and local governments are still far from understanding it.
Venable urged the U.S. government to work with Congress to pass legislation to stop unauthorized data collection and transmission by Chinese drone companies, and recommended that the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense use and expand funding programs to help U.S. manufacturers compete with Chinese rivals.
DJI has reportedly begun to drastically reduce its global sales and marketing teams in response to the New Canopy epidemic and rising political pressure in key markets. DJI did not respond to Voice of America’s request for comment.
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