05 August, 2017
"DJI Unmanned Aircraft Systems [UAS] products are the most widely used non-program of record commercial off-the-shelf UAS employed by the Army".
The memo cites a report from the Army Research Laboratory and a memo from the US Navy, both compiled in May, that reference operational risks and vulnerabilities with DJI products.
As the memo also states, DJI's drones are the most popular consumer drones in the world, and the USA military has in the past issued over 300 "airworthiness releases"-certification that these drones are acceptable for use-"in support of multiple organizations with a variety of mission sets".
Da-Jiang Innovation Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of civilian drones, and is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Officials also directed members to uninstall all DJI applications, remove battery and storage media from devices and to secure all equipment. The Department of the Army memo even reports that they have "issued over 300 separate Airworthiness Releases for DJI products in support of multiple organizations with a variety of mission sets".
However, the order does note that drones should stop being used if they have "DJI electrical components or software" - the units are also ordered not to use any other devices that may feature DJI software, indicating that some vulnerability was found with a DJI application (or more). It is unclear if this report dictated Army's latest decision to put a blanket ban on all DJI products.
However, the maker's drones have also been used extensively by parts of the USA military - more than 300 releases for use have been issued by the Army alone.
After Bloomberg and the New York Times reported on privacy concerns previous year about DJI owners, the company denied sharing information or video from drones with Chinese authorities.
We may preserve and disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with applicable laws, in response to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena, warrant or request, or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies.We are happy to work directly with any organization, including the US Army, that has concerns about our management of cyber issues.
"We want to emphasize that DJI does not routinely share customer information or drone video with Chinese authorities - or any authorities", the company clarified previous year. If one of our drones is implicated in a potentially illegal flight, authorities in any country may seek flight data information from us as part of their investigation.
The reason may be related to information gathering by DJI's products that could include geographic location of flights, audio, and video.
