Obfuscating Aeroscope

edmavic · May 11, 2022

I'm trying to figure out how to obfuscate Aeroscope as much as possible using available methods.

I'm not doing anything illegal but I'm concerned about my privacy. With the recent discovery that each DJI drone transmits Aeroscope signal unencrypted (including drone location, pilot location, home location, supposedly DJI account info including email address) I'm a bit worried that this will go out of hand. See also DJI insisted drone-tracking AeroScope signals were encrypted — now it admits they aren’t

Plus there you can find many stories on this forum where drone pilots 'got caught' while flying legally.

Spain cops scanning DJI drone flights by Aeroscope

This is a warning for every DJI pilot here in Spain, specifically at Madrid city. Be aware Security Forces are running a DJI Aeroscope airspace Monitorization System like this: DJI AeroScope - Drone Security Solutions - DJI I advise you meeting local rules and not flying at unautorized...

mavicpilots.com

A discussion about drone tracking

Yesterday, we posted a video about drone tracking technology that's sparked many interesting reactions, from "I don't care about being tracked, I fly legally" to "this is an invasion of privacy". Do you think this tech will be more or less intrusive than Remote ID? How do you feel knowing this...

mavicpilots.com

I currently have a Mavic Air 2 and I use it with the iPhone DJI app. I was thinking about the following measures:

Registering a new DJI account with an anonymous email address. Log in on DJI Fly with this anonymous email address.
Unbind your drone from your old DJI account, then bind it to your new account.
in iPhone, switch off the DJI fly app access to your Location in the Privacy settings. This way, DJI app and drone won't have access to pilot location.
Maybe switch on airplane mode on your phone? Although I don't think this will do anything, since location is already denied to DJI fly app
When taking off, directly manually change the home location of the drone to somewhere else (but a safe landing spot not too far away)

Disadvantages:

You won't be able to see your own location in the DJI Fly app. I use it to point my antenna (remote controller) so you won't be able to do this anymore.
Moreover, when your drone flies back to the home location in case of emergency, it will fly to the alternative location.
Your DJI account will start from zero again because you register a new email address.

I really hope drone-hacks some day will be able to disable Aeroscope though.

Let me know what you guys think!

Yorkshire_Pud · May 11, 2022

From where does the drone transmit the signals?
If the body would it be possible to mask etc. the sides and back of the drone to block their transmission?

Yaros · May 11, 2022

_christiaan_ said:
I'm trying to figure out how to obfuscate Aeroscope as much as possible using available methods.

I have my thread about this too, I described a method that might work, however is not tested.

Just curious, can THIS trick Aeroscope?

I thought of a potential way to make the pilot location unidentifiable to DJI Aeroscope, I wonder if it works. So, Aeroscope gets the GPS location of the pilot by the GPS in your phone, and the drone's location by the GPS in the drone, right? What if the pilot: - Puts phone in Airplane mode, so...

mavicpilots.com

I'm also very concerned about Aeroscope, before DJI Drones I was flying a DIY Arducopter, was never worried about this, but then when I started flying DJI, I learned about Aeroscope too and started worrying. I live in Spain and there is Aeroscope here, I live on the Mallorca island, and as far as I'm aware there is Aeroscope only on the biggest airport of the island, I live far away from it and don't worry. But it is a big problem in larger cities as Madrid or Barcelona, sorry for bringing up again this topic (I know that some people here are sick of it) but they fined 220K euros a guy that was flying over Barcelona, just flying, he didn't damage anything, and the way they found him was using Aeroscope.

Yaros · May 11, 2022

Yorkshire_Pud said:
From where does the drone transmit the signals?
If the body would it be possible to mask etc. the sides and back of the drone to block their transmission?

That is not possible, because the drone transmits the Aeroscope signals in the same signals that the controller receives. More accurately explained: Aeroscope receives and parses the signals between the controller and the drone, so if you block aeroscope signals, you will lose RC link too, losing control of the drone.

Korrd · May 11, 2022

I'm all for this. Frankly, I'm tired of DJI's nannyware. I don't like to be stalked, plus I'm sick to death about the DJI FPV braking every single time I'm close, but not into, an altitude zone. It scares me to death and it almost makes me crash more than once.

I. Wish. It. Gone. For good.

Skyryder · May 12, 2022

The fat lady has sung, this is not possible. DJI has all your info and serial number of the drone. If LEO's want to find you DJI will give it up without a second thought. Even with a fake email, VPN there are still ways to track someone down if they really want. FAA has busted people who even put in fake serial numbers before.

The only time I have ever read that they couldnt track someone down was when a drone hit a power line caught on fire and burned beyond recognition. So no identifiable serial number or internal parts that could be identified.

MS Coast · May 12, 2022

Yaros said:
I have my thread about this too, I described a method that might work, however is not tested.

Just curious, can THIS trick Aeroscope?

I thought of a potential way to make the pilot location unidentifiable to DJI Aeroscope, I wonder if it works. So, Aeroscope gets the GPS location of the pilot by the GPS in your phone, and the drone's location by the GPS in the drone, right? What if the pilot: - Puts phone in Airplane mode, so...

mavicpilots.com

I'm also very concerned about Aeroscope, before DJI Drones I was flying a DIY Arducopter, was never worried about this, but then when I started flying DJI, I learned about Aeroscope too and started worrying. I live in Spain and there is Aeroscope here, I live on the Mallorca island, and as far as I'm aware there is Aeroscope only on the biggest airport of the island, I live far away from it and don't worry. But it is a big problem in larger cities as Madrid or Barcelona, sorry for bringing up again this topic (I know that some people here are sick of it) but they fined 220K euros a guy that was flying over Barcelona, just flying, he didn't damage anything, and the way they found him was using Aeroscope.

Have a look at this thread: 36-year-old man from Barcelona REPORTED for flying a drone through the Catalan capital

The fellow in Barcelona was not fined 220,000 euro. The maximum fine for what he did was 220,000. As far as I know, there has been nothing posted about his actual fine. Also, he wasn't "just flying." There were multiple violations (BVLOS, over densely populated urban area, altitude violation) on multiple flights.

edmavic · May 12, 2022

Skyryder said:
The fat lady has sung, this is not possible. DJI has all your info and serial number of the drone. If LEO's want to find you DJI will give it up without a second thought. Even with a fake email, VPN there are still ways to track someone down if they really want. FAA has busted people who even put in fake serial numbers before.

The only time I have ever read that they couldnt track someone down was when a drone hit a power line caught on fire and burned beyond recognition. So no identifiable serial number or internal parts that could be identified.

I disagree with the fact that the fat lady has sung. This is not about DJI providing my info to authorities. This is about the actual drone itself sending out data, which enables tracking for authorities.

I sincerely hope it will be possible in the future to disable Aeroscope with some way of a hack. The same way that drone-hacks.com enabled permanent FCC and an unlimited NFZ license and unlimited altitude. I hope that they or some other hacking group will work on disabling Aeroscope. For peace of mind while flying.

Korrd · May 12, 2022

Not only for authorities, but for everyone else as well.

At some point, someone will release an opensource tool that will allow anyone with a minimal setup to track your drone, exposing you to the whims of whoever wants to use it to go get you. This, is like broadcasting your credit card number out in the open and expceting it to be used by the good guys only because you only sell the tool that allows you to see it to them.

Yaros · May 12, 2022

Korrd said:
At some point, someone will release an opensource tool that will allow anyone with a minimal setup to track your drone

This is already planned in the very near future!
Exactly the reason why their Ocusync radio link is using 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz frequency bands, not because they are open (well, that too) but mostly because these frequencies can be picked up by smartphones and other devices, because Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also work on the same frequency bands, so implementing Remote ID for phones available freely and open to everyone isn't hard at all. In the EU this would be required likely starting from 2024, EASA confirmed that in some places. DJI could have easily used other frequencies such as 915Mhz, by that making the range 10 times (or more) greater, just look at ExpressLRS for FPV drones, works at 900Mhz (There is 2.4Ghz option too, but that's not what I'm currently talking about) and has range of 30 Km and greater (18.5 miles and greater)! All was planned for remote ID to be introduced, and I'm sure it will sadly be introduced soon.

Korrd · May 12, 2022

The main reasons for using the unlicensed 2.4/5.8 bands are that you can use then anywhere (since they are unlicenced), and also because their bandwidth and channel spacing is huge.
915mhz would be longer-ranged, true, but I don't think you could do good quality HD video on them since they don't have the bandwidth and channel spacing required to do so. That's why you see a tendency for higher frequencies as new wifi versions are released: bandwidth, not range; you need to support more users across more channels while avoiding cross-talk, interference, etc. As an example, take a look at the upcoming IEEE 802.11ay/WiGig network protocols. They are 45Ghz+, which means they do not penetrate even the tinnest of walls, but are super-high bandwidth.

Also, there is ample tooling and reseach already done on 2.4/5.8, saving on R&D costs.

Dronut · Jun 18, 2022

This is how to do it.

Chip · Jun 18, 2022

Dronut said:
This is how to do it.

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At the beginning of the video, the guy says that Ukraine knew within two days of start of war that Russia's aeroscopes worked fine but its own aeroscopes did not. What a funny coincidence, eh?

Chip · Jun 18, 2022

_christiaan_ said:
This is not about DJI providing my info to authorities.

If DJI aeroscopes work for Russia but not Ukraine, I would say that DJI's role in any aspect of remote ID in USA should be huge concern.

_christiaan_ said:
I sincerely hope it will be possible in the future to disable Aeroscope with some way of a hack. The same way that drone-hacks.com enabled permanent FCC and an unlimited NFZ license and unlimited altitude. I hope that they or some other hacking group will work on disabling Aeroscope. For peace of mind while flying.

My take on video is there is currently no way to disable. Best bet is to launch and land quick and then skedaddle.

Dronut · Jun 19, 2022

Chip said:
At the beginning of the video, the guy says that Ukraine knew within two days of start of war that Russia's aeroscopes worked fine but its own aeroscopes did not. What a funny coincidence, eh?

I don't know anything about the Aeroscope equipment, but I will make the assumption that they can be updated via the internet, and if so, then they should also be able to be reset or have the updates rolled back. I'm wondering if the Ukrainians have tried resetting their devices or 'updating' with an older version of the software.

I'm still on the drone firmware from last year because it works perfectly and I don't need the functionality of any of the updates since then. And I always keep a copy of the previous Android APK on my phone so I can quickly uninstall the new version and reload the old one if I have any problems with the updated version.

Hopefully the Ukrainians have found a way to get theirs going since then and we'll get snippets of useful info on how they are stopping the Russians from using their own Aeroscopes to their full potential.

Dronut · Jun 19, 2022

Chip said:
My take on video is there is currently no way to disable. Best bet is to launch and land quick and then skedaddle.

Or land the drone in a Russian position...

Korrd · Jun 19, 2022

Or fakegps pilot location on russian arty, so they fire on themselves (?

AnzacJack · Jun 19, 2022

I personally like the idea that a system can be installed at an airport that can see and track drones that should not be there. If it was easily fooled, it would then be worthless. I dont think this would be a great step ahead.

I think that sometimes security should trump privacy.
Is there any evidence of aeroscope having been used to fine or target for authorities, any flyer that has been doing the correct thing and following the law? I have only seen evidence of pilots on illegal flights being caught out.

Yes i know there are plenty of times when you may have authorisations to fly somewhere that may be targeted by Aeroscope. If you have authorisations, then ... so what. you wont be fined as you should be able to justify the flight.
I have been caught by aeroscope and received a call from CASA. I explained myself on the phone call and that was that. No issues other than the call.

Hidden · Jun 19, 2022

I wonder which "Fake GPS" app they are using? I see a few on Play, but which one is best?
All this makes me wonder how much of our data is going to Communist China. Are we mapping the US, or your country of origin, for the CCP?

MS Coast · Jun 19, 2022

Wildrat1 said:
I wonder which "Fake GPS" app they are using? I see a few on Play, but which one is best?
All this makes me wonder how much of our data is going to Communist China. Are we mapping the US, or your country of origin, for the CCP?

Not likely. Google has already mapped almost the entire world and made it publicly available.