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Should we be concerned as well...US army wants to ban DJI Drones due to safety concerns.

With unknown pictures showing up on peoples devices there is certainly a huge security hole. I have complained constantly and stopped using DJI, partially due to this issue. DJI is about to learn a nasty lesson in customer management. Too bad their management won't take the hint before they loose their market share and fall behind the industry. I see more and more complaints and less and less positive comments with each passing day.
 
I think DJI is in bed with Kim Jong-un and he's using all the data streaming back from the US pilots to figure out where the "real" population centers are as Jong-un continue to think that Google is a "Tool of the Capitalist Empire" and the published data is not to be trusted. He wants to know where to aim his ICBM to maximize damage so he's looking for the most widely used ATMs and McDonalds Drive thrust are located.

/S
 
The primary reason is DJI's geolocation feature and you can't turn it off. If you're adversary knows your position ...... well you get the point.

If your on a surveillance mission in North Korea you don't want to fire up your DJI drone the data will get sent to DJI's "hacked" servers in China.

DOD had the same issue 10 years ago with smartphones and tablets.
 
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I worry about all the data DJI collect even if they don't intend to use it for nefarious purposes. But, the US Army uses other Chinese made things with back doors and programming they don't understand, like Cisco routers. This makes me wonder if someone's brother in law is pitching a drone company.
 
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DJI gets into your phone and has access to everything in it. If that bothers you you better get a stand alone flight phone. The US military is not going to stand with their pants down around their ankles.
[emoji631]

I have on older Galaxy Tablet with no information about me on it, no email, no contacts, no files, or anything else. I'll switch to that.
 
US Army calls for units to discontinue use of DJI equipment - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

So if this is disturbing for the US Army to go to the point to ground all DJI drones, my question to you and the mods is...should we be concerned as well.

We know that DJI is gathering a lot of data...

I will do my best on my side to stay clear from that data mining. Will be interesting to see DJI response on that matter.

Fly safe and be safe!


I think it would be wise to be concerned, its yet another excuse for the U.S. government and the U.K. government to begin slapping heavy privacy restrictions down onto us all.

Jose
 
I think it would be wise to be concerned, its yet another excuse for the U.S. government and the U.K. government to begin slapping heavy privacy restrictions down onto us all.

Jose

I bet we will hear more about it very soon from one side or the other.
Privacy is a main concern for many and transparence should be a priority. Let's see if DJI can learn and be more mature. Everybody makes mistakes from time to time.
 
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.I'm glad someone with the clout of the US Army and Navy has issued this decree...several of us have been quite angry about DJI's practices for months.

You do realise nobody forces you to buy or use DJI?
You're totally at liberty to find a competitors product whose privacy policy you do agree with (although they pretty much all do the same thing).
 
Just what specifically am I wrong about, and how many of "the guys" earn there living as photojournalists? I can't imagine that anyone who earns there living by shooting original content wants the equipment provider looking over their shoulder at everything they do and regulating flight when there flight is already being regulated by the FAA since they are licensed pilots. Press organizations have already expressed the heavy handed nature of DJI's intrusive behavior along with their draconian contracts. Lon please tell me a little bit about your flying experiences by the way I see you're a well known member even though you joined a few weeks ago just what exactly are you well known for can you post a few of the things you've created recently? Thanks
 
You do realise nobody forces you to buy or use DJI?
You're totally at liberty to find a competitors product whose privacy policy you do agree with (although they pretty much all do the same thing).
Of course I realize that.... I also fly other platforms, do you realize that change only comes about by questioning the wisdom of a companies decision to design something which could be improved upon? I don't know about how you were raised but I was taught to examine why something is the the way it is and think about how it can be improved...if you enjoy status quo your entire life your entitled to doing that of course but I embrace new ideas....other companies certainly do not do the same thing when it comes to privacy...and stating that "they pretty much do the same thing" shows me you don't seem to know much about other manufacturers than. What other platforms have you flown which you would consider comparable to DJI when regard to their intrusive nature?
 
Well, let‘s just hope that they will follow the last sentence of that article:
“Instead of fighting with people, find a way to bring them in and use all that talent.”
Because there is a hell lot of talent around here, much more as at DJI Headquarters Development Team!
I‘m for the moment going the „hack“ way and will refrain to update from DJI until further notice.
 
Not sure if everyone is aware of this but downgrading firmware is not considered "Hack" and changing parameters in the "Open Source" software that DJI uses is actually a "right" that DJI agreed to when they incorporated "Open Source code" in the mavic and DJI Go app. if you wish to learn more about this topic google Kevin Finestre he has brought to light many interesting subjects about DJI and the use of "Open Source code"

I would like to point out that I am not an advocate of altering the software to a point that it endangers property or living creatures including us "Humans" however I also do not agree with a Company as big or as small as DJI, lest we not forget a "Chinese based company with Communist government backing" Nothing happens in China without the Cina government being involved..... I do not agree that any company should data mine and track its customers to a point that borders on total control and infringes on each individual's right to privacy regardless of what country the customer is from.

I also like to think as being a Veteran of the US Armed forces that our military is at least taking a leadership step in protecting our nations interest and security. I remember when I was stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany back in the 1980's in our hangar there were old WWII signs that reminded servicemen that "Loose Lips Sink Ships" and the endless briefings we had about divulging information to anyone about troop movements or field exercises or even what we had for breakfast for that matter, all of this was because communist East Germany and big brother Russia were right next door. Now we have one of the most powerful Communist Governments in the world looking at every piece of data that we send through our cell phones and to boot they have literally 100% access to our video feeds and pictures,,,,, I'm not paranoid, just reminding myself and hopefully others that we shouldn't just blindly follow an OEM's recommendations without question....
 
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Guys... All these concerns (legitimate, in my opinion) are fully addressed flying our DJI's drones offline, aren't they? Or I missed something?

And yes I hate being spied, just like you. Because of that I've never flown my drone connected, and never connected DJI Go app to the internet. And, yes, I use a tablet only for fly. I should be ok with this matter, correct?
 
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@vimagreg, I think you should be ok with your setup, I'm no IT guru but in order for DJI to get the information it craves your device must be connected to either wifi or cellular data services
 
Quote " China’s long and storied history of technological espionage should give even the most skeptical US users some pause."

"In response to the Army’s memorandum, DJI has announced they will soon implement an offline mode, and repeatedly asserted that their data is secure. DJI’s proposed solution is reactive and far too late to ensure the safety and security of Americans and their data. "

"DJI also just announced a new bug bounty program that would pay users to find vulnerabilities and bugs within their code that they would fix. The program would give DJI community wide access to the best hackers who they could then exploit consumers of their products later on by using the very codes they worked on under the guise of safety and cleaning up buggy codes."

"The sheer scale of the threat posed by such a broad and deep espionage scheme should force all US companies and government actors to take this problem seriously."

"While low-resolution visual depictions of these sites are widely available online, the high-resolution images and other data that could be collected by an unwitting fleet of consumer drones would be much more actionable."

"China’s growing and state-funded robotics schools will undoubtedly produce war machines that are more able than ever to capitalize on such data. Such schools are sponsored by DJI such as the Robo Master 2017 which is in Singapore is a Chinese state sponsored war machine incubator for the youth. "

Comment: All those saying it's wrong to "Hack" and deleting posts about modifying software need to really understand what the DJI folks are really doing with the software and firmware updates forced on us...

I recommend reading the article in full posted by Drone Master it's a "MUST READ" thanks @Drone Master
 
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Quote " China’s long and storied history of technological espionage should give even the most skeptical US users some pause."

"In response to the Army’s memorandum, DJI has announced they will soon implement an offline mode, and repeatedly asserted that their data is secure. DJI’s proposed solution is reactive and far too late to ensure the safety and security of Americans and their data. "

"DJI also just announced a new bug bounty program that would pay users to find vulnerabilities and bugs within their code that they would fix. The program would give DJI community wide access to the best hackers who they could then exploit consumers of their products later on by using the very codes they worked on under the guise of safety and cleaning up buggy codes."

"The sheer scale of the threat posed by such a broad and deep espionage scheme should force all US companies and government actors to take this problem seriously."

"While low-resolution visual depictions of these sites are widely available online, the high-resolution images and other data that could be collected by an unwitting fleet of consumer drones would be much more actionable."

"China’s growing and state-funded robotics schools will undoubtedly produce war machines that are more able than ever to capitalize on such data. Such schools are sponsored by DJI such as the Robo Master 2017 which is in Singapore is a Chinese state sponsored war machine incubator for the youth. "

Comment: All those saying it's wrong to "Hack" and deleting posts about modifying software need to really understand what the DJI folks are really doing with the software and firmware updates forced on us...

I recommend reading the article in full posted by Drone Master it's a "MUST READ" thanks @Drone Master
One thing to note, And this is for the ones that are using the AirMap app. It only gets more interesting doesn't it?
That article could hurt AM a bit if it's true.
 
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Yes it could, what bothers me about all this is that we have had a lot of Governmental control over technology and International Export Compliance for many years now and AirMap is a US based company, they should know better..... really
 
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