The trade confrontation between the US and China is constantly escalating, and Huawei has recently been subjected to very tough sanctions. But the business may not be limited to the leader of the telecommunications market. Next in line could very well be the world's leading drone manufacturer, DJI.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has voiced threats posed by Chinese drones, according to a warning issued Monday and leaked to CNN. The warning states that consumer drones, the vast majority of which in the US market are from DJI, could send sensitive flight information to the company's headquarters in China, which could then be accessed by the Chinese government.
In its warning, DHS continues:
“The US government expresses serious concern about any technological product that sends US data to the territory of an authoritarian state, which allows the latter's intelligence services to have unhindered access to this information or otherwise abuse such access.
These concerns apply equally to certain Chinese-made Internet Devices (UAVs) capable of collecting and transmitting potentially sensitive data about their flights and the individuals and organizations that operate them, as China imposes unusually strong obligations on its citizens to support public intelligence activities."
This DHS warning is null and void, and DJI itself isn't explicitly named, but the company certainly better be on the lookout in the context of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war. The note expresses the same concern that led to China's harsh sanctions against Huawei, arguing that Chinese companies are obligated to carry out surveillance on behalf of their country.
“Security is at the core of everything we do at DJI, and the security of our technology has been independently verified by both the U.S. government and leading U.S. companies,” DJI said in a statement, asserting that consumers have full control over how their data is collected and stored. and are transmitted.
The drone maker added: “In cases where government and critical infrastructure customers require additional assurance, we provide drones that do not transmit data to DJI or the internet at all, and our customers can recommended by DHS. Every day, American companies, first responders, and US government agencies rely on DJI drones to help save lives, improve worker safety, and support vital activities, and we take this responsibility seriously.”
This is not the first US concern about China's success in the drone market. In 2017, DJI added a privacy mode to its drones that stops using internet traffic while the drone is in flight. This was done in response to , in which the latter demanded that all of its divisions stop using DJI drones due to alleged cybersecurity issues. Later, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their memo that DJI could be spying for the Chinese government, the company then denied a number of allegations.
Source: 3dnews.ru