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UC Drones Knowledge Portal

10 DJI Drones

UPDATE Jan 2024 DJI now banned from all Federal Agencies and Federal grants/awards following the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024.

For assistance in selecting an alternative drone, please see our guide to selecting a drone.

UPDATE Jan 2025 Under Section 1709 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2025, DJI and Autel are now required to be under review by a National Security Agency to assess the risk of these companies, and any company that licenses technology from them. If they fail the review, or the review is not completed by the end of 2025, the FCC will be prevented from authorizing any new licenses to DJI products. Additionally, the chair of the FCC is authorized to revoke any existing licenses. There is a chance that DJI may be banned within the US.

UPDATE Dec 2025 All foreign-made UAS and UAS critical components are banned from future FCC authorizations. Moving forward, only US-made UAS and UAS critical components will be authorized for use or for sale within the US. Existing foreign-made UAS permitted except for Federally funded projects and grants.

10.1 Background

DJI (Dà-Jiāng Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd) is a Chinese technology company that manufactures drones and camera stabilization systems.

Concerns regarding DJI drones typically stem from the following items:

  • Cybersecurity concerns with DJI - unsecured data links between GCS and drone
  • Cybersecurity concerns with DJI - Apps collect unauthorized information from devices
  • Cybersecurity concerns with data transfer to DJI servers, which may include images, video, and telemetry data.
  • China’s National Intelligence Law requires Chinese companies to cooperate with the government.
  • DJI’s role in the Chinese government’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy
  • DJI’s alleged involvement in the surveillance of ethnic minority Uighurs in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.

These concerns have varying levels of validity and impact, and the news headlines can often be misleading.

10.2 Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Are DJI Drones’ blacklisted’?

    As of today, DJI drones are prehibited in all federally funded projects, and DJI is prohibitted from obtaining any future FCC authorizations for use or for sale of their products.

  2. Did the government ban people from buying DJI drones?

    Yes. The FCC will no longer authorize the use or sale of any new models of DJI drones within the US. There will be some older DJI models available for sale and those may continue to be used, but no future models will be allowed to be purchased or used in the US.

  3. Has the UC system banned DJI drones?

    No. There are currently no UC systemwide restrictions on purchasing or using DJI drones. Additionally, as of today, no UC campus has restrictions on purchasing or using DJI drones. However, the UC will follow all applicable rules and regulations regarding the use of DJI drones. No models without FCC authorization will be permitted.

  4. Are there cybersecurity concerns with DJI drones?

    Yes. All smart technology should be considered to have cybersecurity concerns, including drones. The primary concern of DJI drones is whether they can send data back to the Chinese government. DJI drones can upload data, including images, videos, and telemetry data, back to DJI data servers (the cloud) for storage. There is concern that this data may be accessible by the Chinese government and that the data may also include security concerns such as wifi network configurations that may be used for breaching networks. There have been numerous reports that both support and refute these concerns.

    There are several effective ways to mitigate these cybersecurity concerns with proper cybersecurity practices.

    • Do not use your own personal devices (phones, tablets) or personal accounts (social media) when working with University equipment. Instead, register the drones to lab or department email accounts.
    • Purchase platforms that do not require an additional phone or tablet. The higher-quality DJI projects, including the Enterprise editions and the Matrice series, offer all-in-one controllers that provide all of the necessary capabilities while not requiring an additional device.
    • If a phone or tablet is required for operation, purchase a separate device without a SIM card.
    • Do not authorize DJI to connect to any of your personal social media accounts
    • Disable participation in DJI’s image and video social sharing service SkyPixel
    • Only connect the drone to wireless networks appropriate for the general public, with security measures in place.

    For further information, we have posted guidance on addressing cybersecurity concerns.