Top FCC Official Calls For Ban of DJI Drones Citing National Security Risk

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has called for the addition of DJI drones to the FCC Covered List, which could prevent the company from selling its products in the United States. Carr says that one former Pentagon official has even said that the government agency knew - written as a statement of fact - that much of that information was being sent back to China from DJI drones. "DJI's collection of vast troves of sensitive data is especially troubling given that China's National Intelligence Law grants the Chinese government the power to compel DJI to assist it in espionage activities," Carr says. DJI was placed on the Commerce Department's Entity List last year, colloquially called the "Economic blacklist." Its placement there made it so that American companies could not export parts to DJI. Companies on the blacklist would theoretically find it harder to sell products in the United States, but DJI does not appear to have suffered this problem. There are also reports that the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI also use DJI drones, which Carr says makes it even more important that a full review of DJI is conducted to address potential national security threats. The most recent example is a 2021 Department of Defense statement that said the agency is convinced that DJI systems pose a threat to national security. Should DJI be added to the FCC Covered List, federal agencies would be prohibited from purchasing equipment made by the company.