--- description: The world's largest consumer drone maker DJI said it was in talks with Chinese officials keen to access the data collected by its products. title: China Is Interesed in Consumer Drone Data image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0cbb9aaa74895234/6988902f2dce017ec99e8c53/gettyimages-522756314.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China Is Interested in the Data Collected By Consumer Drones by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 8:26 AM CUT  A DJI Inspire 1 Pro drone is flown during a demonstration at the SZ DJI Technology Co. headquarters in Shenzhen, China, April 20, 2016 A DJI Inspire 1 Pro drone is flown during a demonstration at the SZ DJI Technology Co. headquarters in Shenzhen, China, April 20, 2016Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 8:26 AM CUT The consumer drones that opened the skies to the public may one day be giving a [bird’s eye view](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-20/drone-maker-dji-willing-to-share-data-with-china-s-government "undefined") to Chinese authorities. Chinese drone maker DJI — the world’s largest maker of small drones — said it was in talks with Chinese officials who want access to the data collected by its products, _Bloomberg_ reports. That data could include flight records, GPS information and even video. Whether this applied to Chinese customers only, or customers in Europe and the U.S., has not been made fully clear. “Should DJI receive a valid legal request from a government agency,” spokesperson Oliver Wang said in a statement to media_,_ “we may provide user information to that agency, just as other companies do. That is the case in the U.S., China or anywhere in the world.” Another DJI spokesman, Adam Najberg, emphasized that the company presently did not have a way of viewing video from drones it has sold, beyond what buyers upload themselves via the DJI social media app. [According](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/asia/dji-drones-china.html "undefined") to the New York _Times_, the DJI user agreement already warns customers that “if you conduct your flight in certain countries, your flight data might be monitored and provided to the government authorities according to local regulatory laws.” Users are also told that their data could be transferred between U.S. and Chinese servers. Civilian drones might be the latest node in China’s extensive network of digital surveillance and control. The country already [blocks](http://time.com/4092300/china-internet-freedom-house/ "undefined") any content considered too sensitive — Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. It has also [asked](http://time.com/4092300/china-internet-freedom-house/ "undefined") foreign technology companies to let authorities spy on their users. Large companies like Apple also routinely comply with official Chinese requests for data. \[[_Bloomberg_](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-20/drone-maker-dji-willing-to-share-data-with-china-s-government "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4302868/china-authorities-drone-dji-data-surveillance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4302868/china-authorities-drone-dji-data-surveillance/"},"headline":"China Is Interested in the Data Collected By Consumer Drones","datePublished":"2016-04-21T08:26:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:53.195Z","description":"Could your drone be spying for Beijing one day?","url":"https://time.com/4302868/china-authorities-drone-dji-data-surveillance/","keywords":["Tech","China","Surveillance","Data topic","Law","Drone","digital"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0cbb9aaa74895234/6988902f2dce017ec99e8c53/gettyimages-522756314.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0cbb9aaa74895234/6988902f2dce017ec99e8c53/gettyimages-522756314.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DJI Drones at SZ DJI Technology Co. Headquarters As Company Said To Be Willing to Share Drones' Data With Chinese Government","caption":"DJI Drones at SZ DJI Technology Co. 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