Background: I’ve done some small-scale RC flying in the past, and I did the “toy” quadcopters some years back, but I’m new to DJI and the world of modern drones.
Current: friend and I have a Mini-2, and have some questions about activation and data that goes out from both the drone itself and/or the app. Some of what I *thought* was true at the time of purchase about less-than-250g being unregulated isn’t strictly true, but what I’m not okay doing is sending *any* data to DJI, and we’re not going to create a *#!^@! "DJI account”. I simply want to be able to putz around and fly this at a local park, take some videos of the kids or maybe on a hike where there’s some open space. Simple stuff. Eventually I will also want to get into the developer SDK(s), just for fun, but other than knowing that’s something I’m capable of, it may be a different topic.
I’ve been rummaging through this forum and the web at large for a couple hours now, and this link: How to Make Sure Your DJI Drone Isn't Sharing Your Data talks about some of the issues in the past, and LDM, etc., but 1) I’m not sure it’s up-to-date. 2) I’ve heard there have been firmware changes over time that will change the equation.
I’ve also read through this thread: Why do you need internet connectivity? which answers the question of requiring internet While You Fly, but doesn’t talk about the activation issue and what’s required as far as an “account”. I’m not giving DJI any real email address for them to track, for example.
So far it’s just been sitting in the box, a waste of ~$450, because when we first opened it a few months ago, we couldn’t do a thing without allowing it to communicate with DJI at some level. The intent is that it’s going to be controlled with a device that’s NOT online, we’ll simply use an old iPhone without data or iPodTouch from the stack of castoffs.
Yes, I understand that the iOS device would need to connect online briefly via wifi to load the app, and we’re okay with that — that’s the App Store. But once the app is loaded, then the device will immediately be offline again, before launching the app, as there’s simply no way to control data flow from an iOS device when running 3rd party apps, short of making sure wifi is disabled.
In a nutshell, can we use this device At All without allowing the drone itself or the app to send unknown data (could be anything including GPS derived from the drone itself, there would be no way to prevent that) over the internet to DJI or elsewhere? If I can do a simple activation process via a laptop/desktop web browser and get a code or something, I’m okay with that, as I can prevent the sending of any identifiable or location data to DJI. If I can bypass this by building my own hand-spun app, that would be useful info as well, but obviously a bigger project.
Any other info or links related to this overall topic are welcome, thanks!
Current: friend and I have a Mini-2, and have some questions about activation and data that goes out from both the drone itself and/or the app. Some of what I *thought* was true at the time of purchase about less-than-250g being unregulated isn’t strictly true, but what I’m not okay doing is sending *any* data to DJI, and we’re not going to create a *#!^@! "DJI account”. I simply want to be able to putz around and fly this at a local park, take some videos of the kids or maybe on a hike where there’s some open space. Simple stuff. Eventually I will also want to get into the developer SDK(s), just for fun, but other than knowing that’s something I’m capable of, it may be a different topic.
I’ve been rummaging through this forum and the web at large for a couple hours now, and this link: How to Make Sure Your DJI Drone Isn't Sharing Your Data talks about some of the issues in the past, and LDM, etc., but 1) I’m not sure it’s up-to-date. 2) I’ve heard there have been firmware changes over time that will change the equation.
I’ve also read through this thread: Why do you need internet connectivity? which answers the question of requiring internet While You Fly, but doesn’t talk about the activation issue and what’s required as far as an “account”. I’m not giving DJI any real email address for them to track, for example.
So far it’s just been sitting in the box, a waste of ~$450, because when we first opened it a few months ago, we couldn’t do a thing without allowing it to communicate with DJI at some level. The intent is that it’s going to be controlled with a device that’s NOT online, we’ll simply use an old iPhone without data or iPodTouch from the stack of castoffs.
Yes, I understand that the iOS device would need to connect online briefly via wifi to load the app, and we’re okay with that — that’s the App Store. But once the app is loaded, then the device will immediately be offline again, before launching the app, as there’s simply no way to control data flow from an iOS device when running 3rd party apps, short of making sure wifi is disabled.
In a nutshell, can we use this device At All without allowing the drone itself or the app to send unknown data (could be anything including GPS derived from the drone itself, there would be no way to prevent that) over the internet to DJI or elsewhere? If I can do a simple activation process via a laptop/desktop web browser and get a code or something, I’m okay with that, as I can prevent the sending of any identifiable or location data to DJI. If I can bypass this by building my own hand-spun app, that would be useful info as well, but obviously a bigger project.
Any other info or links related to this overall topic are welcome, thanks!