Responding to years of U.S. and other government concerns about the data security of their Chinese-made drones, industry heavyweight DJI today introduced the DJI Government Edition, a system that keeps the data on the drone for use in high-security situations.
 
“DJI Government Edition allows government agencies to serve the public more efficiently and effectively using the industry’s most widely-adopted drone technology, while maintaining total control over their data,” says Mario Rebello, Vice President and Regional Manager of North America at DJI. 
 
“This is DJI’s most secure drone solution to-date because it prevents users from accidentally or even intentionally transferring data off of the drone to other parties. By incorporating these assurances into its architecture, the Government Edition solution meets the rigorous data security expectations of government agencies, and provides them the safety, reliability, and ease of operation that DJI’s products are respected for by commercial drone pilots around the world.”
 
The U.S. Army has banned the use of DJI drones since 2017, fearing that data from them could be sent to the Chinese government. The Department of Homeland Security recently voiced similar concerns, and legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would ban the Department of Defense from using Chinese-made drones.
 
DJI has offered a data-protection privacy option on its drones for a couple of years but Government Edition kicks that up a notch, offering a local data mode within the DJI Pilot application that would prevent data transfer to third parties or the company; firmware update reviews so users could review updates before applying them; and restricted hardware pairing, where drones and remote controllers can only be linked with each other.
 
“Government Edition allows us to tell our clients that all of their telemetry data, meaning where their drone is flying, is stored securely and not shared with anyone but them,” says Brandon Torres Declet, CEO and cofounder at the drone services company Measure, as quoted in DJI's press release about the new edition, which is available now.
 
DJI also pushed back against testimony offered last week in a U.S. Senate hearing, sending a letter to the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee about what it said were incorrect claims.
 
“DJI drones do not share flight logs, photos or videos unless the drone pilot deliberately chooses to do so," the letter says in part. "They do not automatically send flight data to China or anywhere else. They do not automatically transmit photos or videos over the internet. This data stays solely on the drone and on the pilot’s mobile device. DJI cannot share customer data it never receives.”
 
DJI's Brendan Schulman, the company's vice president of policy and legal affairs, sits on AUVSI's Board of Directors.