CNN article on DJI drones sending data back to China

[Don Scioli]

Should we be worried about this CNN article concerning DJI drones sending data back to China? What would we tell our clients/

Article https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/20/politics/dhs-chinese-drone-warning/index.html

Thanks

[Dave Smith]

Are you worried that “The products contain components that can compromise your data and share your information on a server accessed beyond the company itself.”… ie. by the chinese government? If yes then yes, if no then… yes. Probably won’t affect you in any direct way in the near term, but by now we all know how data can be used to gain advantage in a multitude of ways. One must assume this is happening if you, at the end of the news chain, are hearing about it. The question now would be similar to one of ‘responsibility’… ie. if you care about furry animals is wearing a mink coat hypocritical? Wearing clothing made by kids in a sweatshop something you support? Still use facebook even though cambridge analytica style targeting is a real thing? etc etc etc…. we are hemorrhaging data on a personal level and have no idea how it’s collectively being used, for better or for worse. Knowing humans need for superiority, I have zero confidence this data would be used ‘solely’ for the good of the product (or mankind).

Food for thought: how many times have you seen a person flick a cigarette butt on the ground… then someone else call them on it, “hey! you think the world is your garbage can??”. I’ll bet 99% of the time if smoker returns the call-out with a “well if you care so much, YOU pick it up”… the person would walk away in a huff cursing the smoker. Folks care about ideals but when it comes time to put money where mouth is, people are people… gov’ts and corporations and advertisers know this.

Point is, the solution to this type of problem is action with strength in numbers. Use mob mentality to your benefit. Either by demanding transparency as a consumer base (which you might not trust anyway), or voting with your dollars and buying from a company whose ethical standards you approve of. As individuals we can worry all we want, but to make a difference (like those with the data from millions can) there has to be a movement at scale.