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Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

aljazeera.com

11–20 of 195 posts

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#11

They are absolutely right to do this, and private users should be wary as well. DJI's application (Mimo) has been banned from the Android Play Store for some time, with no explanation given by DJI. They offer an APK to side load, which is completely unsupervised, and requires access to your phone's accurate location and other invasive permissions no matter which of their products you are using. This is an important d…

fyi the aljazeera screenshot doesn’t show the dji article - just a cookie disclosure. Was the ‘ridiculous’ part in the article? Or their saying that the cookie gives “voice to the voiceless”. (Which is funny)

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#12
post #8

They are absolutely right to do this, and private users should be wary as well. DJI's application (Mimo) has been banned from the Android Play Store for some time, with no explanation given by DJI. They offer an APK to side load, which is completely unsupervised, and requires access to your phone's accurate location and other invasive permissions no matter which of their products you are using. This is an important d…

> GPS might be helpful for drones (though it should be on the drone, not your phone) but there is absolutely no reason to use it for something like a phone stabilizer, which it absolutely requires and will not let you continue unless you turn it on. It’s for the flight restriction system. Won’t let you fly near schools, power plants, airports etc.

This might not be the best way to go about it because what you care about in this scenario is the location of the drone, not the operator, who might stand outside the no flight zone. Which is another reason to use the drone's GPS signal in the app instead of your phone location.

Either way when using a drone they will know your location, but there's no reason to let DJI access this information when using every single product they make.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#13

They are absolutely right to do this, and private users should be wary as well. DJI's application (Mimo) has been banned from the Android Play Store for some time, with no explanation given by DJI. They offer an APK to side load, which is completely unsupervised, and requires access to your phone's accurate location and other invasive permissions no matter which of their products you are using. This is an important d…

fyi the aljazeera screenshot doesn’t show the dji article - just a cookie disclosure. Was the ‘ridiculous’ part in the article? Or their saying that the cookie gives “voice to the voiceless”. (Which is funny)

It’s ridiculous that the cookie banner takes that much space. The site is pretty unusable like that.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#14
Do other countries put US hardware and software companies on blacklists for their involvement with DoD? If so, then I think quite a few major US tech companies would be unable to do business outside the US and Europe.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#16

Now if there were any replacement for DJI I'd be happy... their tech stack is weird AF (e.g. you can only view synchronized flightbooks on your DJI RC controller or on the phone if you're using the sticks-only controller but not on the website or the macOS/Windows companion app, the damn expensive DJI RC controller doesn't do HDMI/DP output, the controllers can't be re-used between drone generations, DJI Fly is only…

“ Seriously the EU and US need to step up and establish or at least fund companies that can compete with DJI and other sanctioned entities.”

Establishing legible regulations, yes - but why should taxpayers fund drone companies? What is the public benefit in doing so?

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#17

They are absolutely right to do this, and private users should be wary as well. DJI's application (Mimo) has been banned from the Android Play Store for some time, with no explanation given by DJI. They offer an APK to side load, which is completely unsupervised, and requires access to your phone's accurate location and other invasive permissions no matter which of their products you are using. This is an important d…

fyi the aljazeera screenshot doesn’t show the dji article - just a cookie disclosure. Was the ‘ridiculous’ part in the article? Or their saying that the cookie gives “voice to the voiceless”. (Which is funny)

You can barely see the title behind the cookie popup and the "live" section, which is one of the worst examples I've seen for these annoying practices.

Thankfully Firefox on Android has the "reader mode" available right next to the url.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#18
post #8

They are absolutely right to do this, and private users should be wary as well. DJI's application (Mimo) has been banned from the Android Play Store for some time, with no explanation given by DJI. They offer an APK to side load, which is completely unsupervised, and requires access to your phone's accurate location and other invasive permissions no matter which of their products you are using. This is an important d…

> GPS might be helpful for drones (though it should be on the drone, not your phone) but there is absolutely no reason to use it for something like a phone stabilizer, which it absolutely requires and will not let you continue unless you turn it on. It’s for the flight restriction system. Won’t let you fly near schools, power plants, airports etc.

The drone can refuse to takeoff or fly into restricted space based just on its own GPS. It absolutely does not require to track the pilot.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#19
post #5

Is there any non CCP replacement for their DJI Pocket2 camera?

Pardon my ignorance, but is there any reason why a GoPro (Max) or Insta360 is not sufficient?

Mostly the physical picture stabilization and the better form factor, where the bulky part of the cam is the handle to hold it.

Re: Pentagon Puts DJI on Blacklist

#20

Now if there were any replacement for DJI I'd be happy... their tech stack is weird AF (e.g. you can only view synchronized flightbooks on your DJI RC controller or on the phone if you're using the sticks-only controller but not on the website or the macOS/Windows companion app, the damn expensive DJI RC controller doesn't do HDMI/DP output, the controllers can't be re-used between drone generations, DJI Fly is only…

There are competitors in EU and US: Skydio and Parrot are the first I can think of, although their products cost more and aren't as consumer focused.
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