DJI vs Skydio Privacy Concerns

[VEGASROBBI]

I guess the US Military is paranoid. A good customer of mine works for the civilian company that makes the Predator and Reaper(one of his Reapers took out Salamani). He's based at Creech AFB and they used drones for inspection. After the military pulled all the DJI drones off the base he was wasn't allowed to bring his personal DJI drone onto base. When he asked why he said he was given convincing evidence why.

When DJI can sideload any app they want bypassing Google security; and, DJI's own reps are now stating offer no personal information to DJI it's not paranoia it's a threat.

 

[skydioconvert]

I guess the US Military is paranoid. A good customer of mine works for the civilian company that makes the Predator and Reaper(one of his Reapers took out Salamani). He's based at Creech AFB and they used drones for inspection. After the military pulled all the DJI drones off the base he was wasn't allowed to bring his personal DJI drone onto base. When he asked why he said he was given convincing evidence why.

When DJI can sideload any app they want bypassing Google security; and, their own DJI's own reps are now stating offer no personal information to DJI it's not paranoia it's a threat.

... or maybe there's something else in play....

Weren't the DJI rep(s) you mentioned recently dropped and/or reassigned by DJI ???

P.S. A recent post here warned about the dangers of personal info being stolen by DJI but then in the very last paragraph of the article noted that many other apps (i.e. non-DJI) do the very same thing.

 

[VEGASROBBI]

I think what we need to understand this is not DJI, Hawaii or the Chinese people.... Separate what you think is our mistrust for DJI and substitute the CCP. Looks what's going on around the world. The CCP is using the Chinese people and Chinese companies to infiltrate our society. I have Chinese friends that do not trust "China".

This video talks about how the CCP uses Chinese students, Chinese companies, Chinese citizens to promote and progress their goal of control. The Chinese own much of our country. All my properties were financed by Chinese banks because they outbid our banks; not and longer I refinanced recently to a local bank.

Watch this video it sets the global tone of what is going on.

 

[VEGASROBBI]

Now we're breaking their doors down

US officials raid Chinese consulate in Houston believed to be spy hub

U.S. officials pried open the doors of the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday and took over the building shortly after Chinese officials vacated the facility on orders from the Trump Administration.

www.foxnews.com

 

[skydioconvert]

Sorry to see this forum drifting more and more into the political arena.

Can we just stop bashing everything that we dislike and just get back to learning about the S2?

 

[Portolo]

Sorry to see this forum drifting more and more into the political arena.

Can we just stop bashing everything that we dislike and just get back to learning about the S2?

Government and enterprise customers appear to be Skydio's growing focus. Perhaps eventually, their singular focus.

Were it not for the very issues revealed by these security researchers and the concerns illustrated by the "political" posts, Skydio would likely not be pursuing those avenues.

US / China friction appears to be growing by the day. Given the bans on Huawei technology, an outright ban of DJI products wouldn't be the most shocking development ever. (Not endorsing anything of the kind, but wouldn't be surprised were it to happen).

Skydio's very existence might one day rely on the politics of this issue.

 

[skydioconvert]

Guess my request fell on deaf ears....I'm going to return control of the TV set to you now....

 

[Portolo]

Guess my request fell on deaf ears.

Not at all.

Please understand that your request would mean not discussing what could be the single most important driver of Skydio sales going foreward. And while the politics of these decisions may not be the world we want, it's the one we're in.

 

[Ridefreak]

Sorry to see this forum drifting more and more into the political arena.

Can we just stop bashing everything that we dislike and just get back to learning about the S2?

This is just a single tread discussing this issue, doesn't change the fact that this forum is about the SD2. In reality we should be concerned with any software product that resides on our phone, especially if it's Chinese in origin.

DJI as a Chinese company couldn't stop the collection even if they wanted to, it's written into law there. As I said before it's likely that DJI is an unwilling participant. As a company, when the security concerns were first identified by the US government all they had to do was comply and this would have gone away, I doubt they are driving that train.

What you need to know about China’s intelligence law that takes effect today

The new law is part of a slew of legislation focusing on state security enacted in recent years under president Xi Jinping.

qz.com

 

[VEGASROBBI]

Sad to see communism still exists. I grew up during the cold war and it was lose-lose until Reagan came along. Reagan "Trumped" the Soviet Union like Trump is doing to China today.

Skydioconvert I agree I want to discuss Skydio drones, which I will be posting more videos in my other threads, I love my S2.

But look at the thread title "privacy concerns". While privacy may not be a concern for you it is a major concern for many users and is becoming more important every day in today's world. DJI being able to side load apps into law enforcement or military devices, under CCP control, is a vital concern. And remember when they got caught the first time they vowed to never do it again accompanied by a media campaign why we should trust them, then they do it again.

So while I agree for the average hobbiest there's not much to worry about drones are going mainstream in industry.

 

[bikerdave]

All of this research and reporting, coupled with the US Military ban of DJI, is exactly why I waited to purchase a "higher quality" drone other than the glorified "toy" platforms I've been learning the ropes on. I'm not a commercial user or enterprise entity, and I doubt that I would have any information deemed valuable by a hostile government, but I do value my privacy and security highly. Skydio 2 will be my springboard to the next level of drone ownership...when it ships, of course! I certainly appreciate the time and effort these experts expended in pursuit of the information reported. It's not to be taken lightly.

 

[Ridefreak]

Sad to see communism still exists. I grew up during the cold war and it was lose-lose until Reagan came along. Reagan "Trumped" the Soviet Union like Trump is doing to China today.

Skydioconvert I agree I want to discuss Skydio drones, which I will be posting more videos in my other threads, I love my S2.

But look at the thread title "privacy concerns". While privacy may not be a concern for you it is a major concern for many users and is becoming more important every day in today's world. DJI being able to side load apps into law enforcement or military devices, under CCP control, is a vital concern. And remember when they got caught the first time they vowed to never do it again accompanied by a media campaign why we should trust them, then they do it again.

So while I agree for the average hobbiest there's not much to worry about drones are going mainstream in industry.

I fought the cold war the first 10 of my 22 years in the military, Reagan definitely changed the game.

 

[Crracer712]

As a drone newbie and an American, the aforementioned issues are why I dismissed a DJI drone and decided on Skydio 2. I just don't trust them, and my intended use for the drone probably wouldn't provide any useful info. But, it's my phone, it's my info.

 

[dirkclod]

And where did your phone come from.

 

[Crracer712]

My Moto G stylus is made in India.

 

[Crracer712]

China made items are practically unavoidable. I buy elsewhere when I can. It's the software developed by the CCP that I have an issue with.

 

[dirkclod]

What I was implying . China made items are practically unavoidable
and who knows even made in India they don’t have ties. ?‍

 

[VEGASROBBI]

While I agree it's unlikely any useful data will be collected from the Hobbyist there is a real threat in industry, Military....

A phone can gather data also but it is less likely to be flying around inspecting or surveilling sensitive situations and craft.

The UK has followed the US lead to ban Huawei phones due to the security threat.

Times are interesting, when I was a small kid I saw Man land on the Moon then Nixon open up relations with China. I remember my Dad saying he woke up a sleeping Giant, I didn't get it.

It seems many countries are following Trump's lead to cut off and punish the Chinese at their attempt for World domination; certainly it appears God is punishing them now.

The Chinese people are innocent here, the cold war is alive.

I'm so happy with my S2 I have no intention of "taking the risk" or dedicating a device just to fly DJI, that's stupid IMO.

 

[Crracer712]

Yep, considering Lenovo is a China company now(who makes Motorola phones, I have no doubt someone in China, didn't have influence on my India built phone.

However, I don't recall any dust up about Motorola phones with Android software being exploited except explicitly by app developers, of which I'm very choosey

 

[richinAZ]

I followed Kevin in many posts he made on Github quite a while ago and he is definitely a guy that knows what he is talking about.

I just don't see how drones flown by consumers or first responders in the USA could be used to send China any useful military information. Makes sense to prohibit the use of DJI (or any other foreign made) drone for our military but when it comes to safeguarding our privacy that's a war that was lost long ago.

the EU is fighting back on Privacy. the US does NOTHING.....meanwhile Tesla and Elon Musk have to reassure the Chinese that we are not spying on them with all the Teslas they are buying. Party members, VIP's and Military are being cautioned not to use them.