5 Mar 2021

DJI drones do not automatically send photos, videos, flight logs - company

4:26 pm on 5 March 2021

The world's leading drone maker says its machines do not automatically share data with anyone, anywhere.

Drones are deployed during a demonstration at the Los Angeles Fire Department ahead of DJI's AirWorks conference in Los Angeles, California, on September 23, 2019.

Photo: AFP

New Zealand police are using drones from DJI, a company that is under pressure from some US agencies over claims they can spy on the user or send data to remote servers.

A DJI spokesperson said it was a drone pilot's choice what to share, and its drones could work without being connected to any network.

"DJI drones do not automatically share photos, videos or flight logs with anyone, anywhere - not with China, not with DJI, not with anyone," said the spokesperson in New York.

Police said their 26 drones did not connect directly to the police network.

DJI's data security had been validated by independent audits, including Booz Allen Hamilton, and the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory on behalf of the US Department of Homeland Security, the company told RNZ.

The claims in the US were "false" and "spread by our competitors", the spokesperson said.

The Chinese firm has three quarters of the world's market for emergency services drones.