2nd hand Mini 3 Pro remote ID broadcast

madkiwi · May 4, 2024

Buying a Mini 3 Pro from a guy who has been using it as a professional photographer so it has been individually registered under part 107.

Neither the seller nor myself want his info tracked when I am flying the drone.

So what steps do we need to take to get it completely unregistered? I am going to be flying it for purely recreational use.

Thanks

mavic3usa · May 4, 2024

I think all he needs to do is go to his dashboard in the FAA registration portal and delete/remove his details. However, I am unsure of what you mean by "tracked" in the context of flying the drone, could you clarify? DJI drones are not currently being tracked by anyone under any circumstances (except by maybe the Chinese apparently). Arguably it is impossible to know who exactly is "behind the wheel" when a drone is up in the air. If the seller is concerned that if the new buyer might crash the drone, he might get a phone call from the authorities you should let him know his details are in a permanent government database and he is forever linked to that drone's serial number no matter what.

Remote ID (RID) doesn't identify the pilot so no worries from an ordinary daily basis but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't mention it will always be possible to link him to that drone. He created that bond when he purchased and activated the drone.

Cafguy · May 4, 2024

madkiwi said:
Neither the seller nor myself want his info tracked when I am flying the drone.

As long as you DO NOT tape your wallet to your drone you wont be tracked lol.
The RID number your drone transmits is simply that- A number BUT now what they CAN do is prove you are a repeat offender and therefore deserving of the FAA's STEEEEP fines, simply by putting your RID number into a database. Unless you are smuggling narcotics or interfering with airport operations "THEY" are not watching you fly at Norad. lol ( at least thats what they tell me )

madkiwi · May 4, 2024

I think I wasn't clear but you guys seem to have figured my intent- nobody wants some alphabet agency shooting his dog because I did something stupid with a drone he used to own but is still in the NSA database (before you chime in that it's the FAA nobody is naive enough to think the NSA doesn't take a peek).

I have no intention of doing anything other than fly recreationally so I won't be registering any drones under 250g. However the Mini 3 Pro broadcasts its ID all the time anyway, wish it didn't but that's the way it is.

Cafguy · May 4, 2024

If you don't register the drone then the RID number CANNOT be traced back to you. Its not like the drone somehow displays its purchase info. However the number will be displayed SO I suppose if they somehow took your drone read its RID number thru an application and then checked all rid numbers with violations I guess maybe they would know who you are and fine you. But I think thats more science fiction than fact. As long as you are not violating the law why would you care that your drone is basically pinging a number to the tower? RID info will not tell the IRS your true tax info nor will it inform the local authorities of your warrant for parking to long in a loading zone. so you are free to fly with RID without giving away any important data reveling who you are.

mavic3usa · May 4, 2024

Cafguy said:
If you don't register the drone then the RID number CANNOT be traced back to you. Its not like the drone somehow displays its purchase info. However the number will be displayed SO I suppose if they somehow took your drone read its RID number thru an application and then checked all rid numbers with violations I guess maybe they would know who you are and fine you. But I think thats more science fiction than fact. As long as you are not violating the law why would you care that your drone is basically pinging a number to the tower? RID info will not tell the IRS your true tax info nor will it inform the local authorities of your warrant for parking to long in a loading zone. so you are free to fly with RID without giving away any important data reveling who you are.

True but I still believe the jury is out on this. A drone that is broadcasting RID details but connects to nothing in the FAA database is likely suspicious. As you know, there are many versions of the truth and one of them says if you broadcast RID, you register it. Personally if it were me, I would register it myself before someone else does it for me (how's that for science fiction).

MavicAir2Marc · May 5, 2024

RID is very short range so unless they are following you and physically near you, you won't be "tracked".

Droning on and on... · May 5, 2024

FYI, for DJI drones the RID "number" is the manufacturer serial number of the drone.

Stale data in the FAA registration database when transferring ownership to someone else is a valid concern. This is easily corrected by deleting the registration. This has to be done anyway before the new owner can register.

Until I have some reason to believe the FAA is behaving in some underhanded way with all this, and I don't, I trust this procedure will protect me from suspicion should the drone be used for nefarious purposes in the future.

While people in the US government behave abusively from time to time, it's important to remember we don't live in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia.

Mrprop365 · May 5, 2024

madkiwi said:
I think I wasn't clear but you guys seem to have figured my intent- nobody wants some alphabet agency shooting his dog because I did something stupid with a drone he used to own but is still in the NSA database (before you chime in that it's the FAA nobody is naive enough to think the NSA doesn't take a peek).

I have no intention of doing anything other than fly recreationally so I won't be registering any drones under 250g. However the Mini 3 Pro broadcasts its ID all the time anyway, wish it didn't but that's the way it is.

I believe that as of the latest update from DJ, as long as you're flying with the smaller battery it does not transmit RID