DJI official defends data practices, warns U.S. supply gaps if imports are restricted

Adam Welsh, head of global policy for DJI, told the Michigan House oversight subcommittee on homeland security and foreign influence at a hearing that DJI has built multiple data-security controls into its products and that broad restrictions on imports would create immediate gaps for public-safety agencies and private-sector users.

Welsh said DJI’s approach includes a “local data mode” that prevents a drone from connecting to cellular networks, onboard receivers for manned-aircraft signals and early adoption of the FAA’s Remote ID standard. “We don’t make money from data,” Welsh said, adding that flight logs and consumer media are not uploaded to DJI servers unless users explicitly opt in.

The discussion centered on three topics the committee flagged as urgent: data security, single-source market concentration, and supply-chain fragility. Committee members pressed Welsh about audits, past federal scrutiny and a provision of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act that could bar new DJI models from U.S. sales if an intelligence review is not completed by the specified deadline.

Why it matters: state and local law enforcement, fire departments, utilities and agricultural operators rely extensively on small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for search and rescue, infrastructure inspection and other missions. Welsh told the panel that DJI products account for roughly “70 plus percent of the overall consumer and commercial market” and that some estimates put the company “around 90% of the agricultural market.” He warned that a regulatory or…