An analysis of public documents reveal the UK’s four largest police forces use drones manufactured by DJI Technology to help specialist teams with surveillance and support investigatory operations. It is understood security officials fear sensitive images and data collected by the drones could then be obtained by the Chinese authorities.
The US Department of Defence has blacklisted DJI due to alleged ties to the Chinese military.
Four of the UK’s largest police forces are using drone manufactured by DJI Technology (Photo: Ben Birchall) Provider: PA Source: PA ArchiveChinese investment in supply chains and critical infrastructure has come under significant scrutiny this week after the government took control of British Steel from its Chinese owner, Jingye Group, to prevent it from closing the country’s last two remaining blast furnaces.
On Wednesday, The i Paper revealed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has banned electric vehicles (EVs) with Chinese components from sensitive sites and military training bases.
A former senior Government official said there has long been an awareness of the risks associated with DJI equipment and those within Government have tried to remove the Chinese technology from police forces.
A specialist arm of MI5 aimed at protecting national services and infrastructure, The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), warned that organisations should pay “special attention” to firms “who by virtue of their country of origin” could be obliged to “support, cooperate with, or collaborate on national intelligence work” which could pose a risk to the UK.
Police forces uses these drones to support investigatory and operational tasks such as supporting tactical firearms units and crowd control at large events.
Drones are used to support investigatory and operational tasks such as searching for missing people and supporting tactical firearms units. (Photo: Ben Birchall)He said: “It’s one thing for social media companies to allow zettabytes of personal data to leak to China, but quite another for our police to do it, knowing the risks.
Drones manufactured by the Chinese firm have also been used to take high resolution images of critical national infrastructure sites in the UK, including National Grid substations, nuclear power plants, and water supplies, according to Bloomberg.
Drones can help police and save lives
Sam Dunning, director and founder of the charity UK-China Transparency, said his view is that DJI “cannot be trusted” because they can be forced to collaborate with Chinese intelligence under the national security laws.
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said: “Drones improve the safety of police officers and communities, providing a fast response and invaluable ‘eyes in the sky’ for a range of incidents and we continue to develop and innovate our air support model to enhance operational policing.
A DJI spokesperson said: “We are proud that DJI drones have saved hundreds of lives and improved worker safety and efficiency in fields as diverse as public safety, environmental protection, agriculture, and clean energy production, around the globe. “DJI drones have undergone several independent and government security validations and have been found to be safe and secure. DJI is a hardware company. Our business model does not involve data collection, and we give users control over the data they generate. Our users don’t have to share photos, videos, or flight logs with DJI, and by default, this data is not synced with DJI. Additionally, DJI drones do not even need to connect to the internet to operate. Users can choose to activate “Local Data Mode” which severs the connection between their flight app and the internet. “The market chose DJI products to help keep society safer because of their technical capability, reliability and affordability.” The Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police, and Police Scotland were all approached for comment as was the Home Office.
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