My question is; Is there any concern that updates from DJI to our controller and drone that would lock us out if and when the US government bans DJI from the US?
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US: concerns for locking out of software from DJI
- Thread starter willo
- Start date
Brutalwarpig
Well-known member
So you are asking, should DJI/Autel drones be completely banned in the US, would DJI send a "brick" update to your equipment? I would say, "absolutely not"! Think about it. Republicans want to ban Chinese made drones for (IMO) largely false espionage fears. This is a pet fear mongering issue that Republicans have inexplicably championed. The party in power often changes back and forth in the US. So once a Democrat is back in the White House, i doubt the ban will continue. If DJI bricks anyone's device it will severely damage their reputation in the US. DJI is going to want to be ready to sell drones to US customers when a Democrat eventually wins the presidency. So i don't see DJI intentionally bricking anyone's device. However DJI installs an mandatory update date on some if not all DJI devices within each activation or update. This requires DJI products to be connected to DJI servers every so often for the latest update and ultimately gives DJI much more control over all their branded devices. It may be an annual thing or every other year but I've had a message on my RC2 that an update was necessary before I could fly my drone. If US owners are blocked from DJI servers, it's possible that your current update could expire or that your functionality could become unstable. I don't know if the mandatory update I hade to install was a unique issue for my drone or all Air 3 drones, or if all DJI drones have update expiration dates but not having access to updates could inadvertently cause your drone to become unflyable simply because firmware often becomes unstable or starts having glitches.
This is why I believe any espionage fears can be mitigated. I only have one consumer drone now because I prefer to build my own. I have a DJI Air 3 with the RC2 (built in screen) remote controller. I think the espionage fears revolve on a fear that a future update to your DJI app on your phone could allow the Chinese government to, without your knowledge, turn on your camera, microphone, turn on your "HOT SPOT" function to create a shadow network using other nearby devices, etc. The US could simply require all DJI drones have only built in screen remotes. A cell phone is always connected to a network. My RC2 remote controller is almost never connected to a network. My RC2 doesn’t have a sim card or cellular network access and I can delete any MAC address so that it doesn't have access to any network unless I want it to. No network access = no possibility of remote espionage using a DJI drone.
This is why I believe any espionage fears can be mitigated. I only have one consumer drone now because I prefer to build my own. I have a DJI Air 3 with the RC2 (built in screen) remote controller. I think the espionage fears revolve on a fear that a future update to your DJI app on your phone could allow the Chinese government to, without your knowledge, turn on your camera, microphone, turn on your "HOT SPOT" function to create a shadow network using other nearby devices, etc. The US could simply require all DJI drones have only built in screen remotes. A cell phone is always connected to a network. My RC2 remote controller is almost never connected to a network. My RC2 doesn’t have a sim card or cellular network access and I can delete any MAC address so that it doesn't have access to any network unless I want it to. No network access = no possibility of remote espionage using a DJI drone.