Beware that DJI's software to control these craft is super sketchy to install and use. It doesn't exist in the Google Play Store, to avoid inspection.
This claim is always thrown out like a life preserver without ever anything to back it up. Do you have anything to support this claim?
I accept that chinese authorities generally have access to anything they want to in the country, so I would buy that they have access to drone data.
So just like the US ?
If so, then there is nothing else needed. People forget how sketchy closed source software is.
So, I turn to them: is there anything that proves its a surveillance-free device? No, they cannot assure that.
Someone may not like it, but China now has a very, very bad reputation among people in the West. Especially after the last pandemic and how they handled it.
Can Google and Apple prove that their stuff is surveillance-free, though?
In the absence of a surveillance-free device, people prefer the one with the better rep.
Where? Maybe in the west, certainly not in the rest of the world. China didn't start a war that killed 1million people not even 20 years ago. Westerners don't care about that but that's to be expected.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine
The US military complex is beyond dirty and its grip on govt power makes everyone sick in the West and the East.
But reducing the US to that and then doing a comparison with the Chinese government and ideology is unfair, in my opinion.
This doesn't qualify for "not even 20 years ago".
Have you ever been to China and the US?
You may think they're equally awful, but a LOT of people disagree.
China's reputation is in really bad shape among people in the West. Despite also being under surveillance, that's why many prefer American or European tech.
It would be trivial to prove this to be true, and there is zero of that proof. Hell, at this point it would be valuable to even see small phone homes by Mavic software from the last year, but I doubt you even have that.
There are plenty of other reasons not to buy this drone, so the lies are completely uncalled for.
Surveillance doesn't always run 24/7 for every device. The signal/noise ratio would be extremely low.
To keep a high ratio, it's selectively switched on for high interest targets.
There's no reason for a drone flying on my backyard to send any data to China. Their privacy protection is inexistent. You can ask it to be conceivably whatever horse shit you like, I don't care. I don't want any bytes sent there.
1. https://www.google.com/search?q=ccp+chinese+tech+surveillanc...
The word you're trying to find is not "speculation", but "suspicion":
1. a feeling or thought that something is possible, likely, or true.
2. cautious distrust.
You may like China or think there's no difference between the US and China. But saying there's no reason to be suspicious of a Chinese device is putting you in the realm of unreasonable...
I never claimed I “liked” China or equated China to the US at all, nor did I say suspicion of Chinese made electronics was without merit. What I said was the specific claim being made was unsupported by evidence that would be trivially collectable if the claim were true.
And no, my word choice was intentional. You seem to be arguing against the common criticisms of your position, but you are ignoring my actual issues. I recommend rereading what I wrote and trying again.
What I'm saying is China's reputation is way, waaaaay worse than the US' among people in the West, in general.
That's why they prefer American or European technologies and products.
DJI does not produce infrastructure pieces so it hasn’t reached the same urgency to the US, so it’s still allowed.
For the infrastructure, for legit strategic reasons (without even considering they are abusing it, you generally don't want to rely on foreign infrastructure on your territory).
For the smartphones, that's pure commercial war. Huawei was a big competitor.
Big competitor of what? There’s no popular Android phone OEM in the US. Sounds like you’re making stuff up.
Many people around me liked Huawei because they were seeing it as the Android brand that "is closest to Apple".
> Sounds like you’re making stuff up.
Don't get me wrong: I am not part of the US government and I was not part of the official decision. I'm just sharing my opinion :-).
https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/canalys-global-smartphone-m...
US understandably wants their spyware in the world's infra. The rest of the planet might not see it that black and white.
They are in an economic war and are competing about whose spyware people use. I dont see how given that you can take this as a sensible metric.
Not arguing against your main point though, your line of reasoning is just flawed. The US would have reason to behave like this even if Chinese spyware wasnt a threat.
Tech people are usually paranoid by the most unlikely scenarios. A soldier with an antenna can pinpoint the operator location much easier than trying to get this kind of info from china without leaks.
However, other actors are entering the war business, like Parrot[4].
[0]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NtgseODXGSAomx6G5Efw...
[1]: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/16/ukraine-russia-war-dron...
[2]: https://www.dji.com/uk/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-sales-...
[3]: https://www.dji.com/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-dji-relat...
[4]: https://www.lesechos.fr/weekend/high-tech-auto/henry-seydoux...
I guess the Android version could be a lot different, but why?
You don't need camera access, location services, etc when the drone does all of it onboard.
I got a mavic early on and sent it back because you needed the app and an account to activate it and fly it, even manually.
Of course there wouldn't be any evidence.
What people allege is that Apple being successful in China is suspicious.
Of course there is no smoking gun but you'd have to be dumb to believe it's not happening. Apple want to make phones in China and sell phones to China Wechat (China) is allowed a free pass on the app store.
I had the original Mavic Mini and installed the DJI Fly App (v1.2.1 on my phone now) from the Play Store.
edit: here's the listing: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dji.go.v5
Though it doesn't show up in search from the web.
edit 2: The Android download on their site is definitely an APK and not a Play Store link: https://www.dji.com/downloads/djiapp/dji-fly
Why in the world would they need to do this?
I think the real issue is more complicated than that, but, whatever.
I use their software only for administrative tasks - updates, etc. For routine use I would recommend something like Litchi.
I thought that was because the company was sanctioned by the US, and therefore google can't work with them?
The Play Store has all kind of automated and manual processes to detect malware and vulnerabilities. It's why I don't enable side-loading on my phone.
The Play Store is notorious for allowing absolute garbage apps in, regardless of the "risks" of sideloading.