Is your DJI drone or UAV spying on your personal privacy? Hint: Yes. Yes it is!
Owning a Drone is a lot of fun! But are you aware of the massive personal privacy and spying risks? They are insane and over the top!
Is your drone is spying on you? Oh heck yeah! And it’s ratting you out every chance it gets.
If you thought cell phones were bad, wait until you read this!
The Drone Digital Ecosystem - Personal Privacy Primer
Ok, let’s get down to business.
The tiny drone sitting in your hand is a modern wonder of computer and communication technology. Drones aka UAVs, have a complex unique digital ecosystem. This digital ecosystem makes it difficult for a pilot and their drone to remain private and anonymous.
The combination of your drone, controller, and cell phone is a forensics powerhouse . Chock full of resources wide open and free for the taking. The worst offenders in your flight kit are your mobile device, cell phone, or tablet. Especially those connected to data or WiFi.
Drones communicate within their electronic ecosystem wirelessly. This includes flight telemetry instructions, feedback, and monitoring. Photo, video, and audio transmissions and recordings. GPS location data for both the controller (Pilot) and the drone (aircraft). And a host of other data information between the pilot, aircraft, cell phone, and internet links.
Wow!
Your UAV is no different than any other enabled IoT device. It is easy to hack, monitor, track, hijack, disable, and more.
Why Is Your Drone Spying On You And Invading Your Privacy?
Bad people do bad things. They use drones and UAVs for a wide variety of illegal activities. Their devices do horrible things and cause harm, chaos, harassment, and terror. Criminals use drones for robberies and burglaries as digital looks. Or to deliver drugs and other illegal payloads.
Drug cartels, Isis and Yakuza are using drones to deliver drugs. They use weaponized drones to take out rivals.
Terrorists use drones to deliver bombs and bioweapons. The drones attack both ground and air targets.
But it’s not only because of the bad people that your drone is now spying on you. Reckless users also create distress. For the most part, it’s unintentional or accidental. They become a nuisance without realizing they’re doing it. And sometimes their mistakes cause problems at major airports.
This is why your drone is spying on you and invading your personal privacy. Identifying drones, controllers, mobile devices, and pilots have become a national priority.
Abiding By UAV Rules And Regulations
Each country around the world has its own rules regulating drones and UAV aircraft. Regulations consider the weight of the drone and air space classifications. Most countries require drone owners to register and train as licensed pilots. Also, drones over a certain weight need to register with flight authorities.
The specific rules and regulations of each country vary and it’s best to do your own research. However, they share many similarities.
UAVs can fly to a maximum altitude of 400 feet (120 meters). Pilots are not allowed to fly within 3 miles (5 km) from the center of the nearest airport. It is forbidden to fly a drone within an aircraft’s flight path.
Flying over parks or public lands is illegal without special permits. National monuments, heritage sites, and wildlife refuges are no-fly zones. And night flying is okay, but only with approved anti-collision lighting equipment.
Please do your research to learn the rules and regulations where you live or will be flying.
Drone Detection And Identification
Drone and UAV detection and identification is one way that your drone is spying on you. To be more accurate, it is one way authorities and drone/UAV hunters use your drone to spy on you and expose your personal privacy.
According to Aerial Armor, drone detection is: “… the practice of detecting and tracking Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones). Security teams and law enforcement agencies use drone detection systems to monitor their airspace and take appropriate actions against unwanted drones. Flight data and operator information can be retrieved and used to take legal action, when necessary.”
Commercial drone detection equipment can detect UAVs in 360 degrees as far away as 20 miles. It’s safe to assume that military equipment has a much greater range. Your drone is easy to detect on the ground as it is in flight. It only needs to be in communication with the flight controller.
Drone detection equipment uses either passive or active detection. Passive detectors “listen” for radio signals. Active detectors listen for radio signals and broadcast their own signals including radar. Detection equipment works well. However, in urban areas with tall buildings, detectors have a more difficult time. Signal beacons, sensors, and integration with cell towers are solving this problem. Rogue pilots can no longer hide in blind spots.
How Drone Detection And Identification Works
By monitoring Radio Frequency (RF) signals, hunters can identify the exact make and model of the drone. They can identify the controller, pilot, GPS location, altitude, and speed. Their systems work by spying and listening to drone frequencies and collecting broadcast data.
The data is compared against database systems to identify the equipment, along with the FAA registered owner. Detection systems cross-check manufacturer databases to identify registered warranty owners of unregistered UFDs (Unidentified Flying Drones).
Even more alarming, hunters can check cell providers to identify the cell phone owner.
The collected flight data is extensive. Drone GPS location, pilot location, pathing behavior (left, right, up, down, pitch, yaw), satellites, altitude, speed, acceleration and deceleration, takeoff and landing, and a copy of the video and audio feeds. And that’s just the start.
The Federal Aviation Authority’s database includes the pilot’s name, address, email, phone number, sale date, make and model, weight, and a serial number of the aircraft. Transport Canada and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency collect similar data.
Drone software uses web services like Google Maps for a variety of purposes. These include plotting waypoints, determining the direction of travel, and find-my-drone features. Pilot and UAV geolocation data is also recorded. Apps like Dronelink and DJI’s Go Fly record flights and patterns. And they can share the collected data and your personal privacy with authorities or the public.
New drones will soon come with mandatory Remote ID. The remote ID system will broadcast the UAV’s identification and location during flight. Any party can receive and view this real-time data.
What Privacy Data Is My DJI Drone Collecting From Me?
DJI is one of the most popular consumer drone brands. Some other manufacturers use the DJI technology and framework to make their drones. DJI devices record almost everything about the drone. Including controller, flight, battery, satellites, and video and photo use.
A more extensive list includes:
- drone GPS location
- pilot GPS location
- make and model
- drone’s unique ID number
- altitude and speed
- real-time geolocation data
- angle and distance from detector sensors in real time
- MAC address of drone’s wifi
- accelerometers
- compass heading
- takeoff and landing analysis data
- crash data and crash data analysis
DJI also produces a software detection platform called AeroScope. Not only does AeroScope help detect UAVs, but it also connects to the DJI cloud where you store your flight data. AeroScope tracks drone data and signatures. DJI shares the data with law enforcement, government, and business when required.
Some drone apps store user account names and passwords on the drone, unencrypted. This gives your private account access to anyone who has access to the drone or is spying on its data.
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