WASHINGTON, Oct 19 Reuters : A Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission FCC said on Tuesday he wants the U.S. government to begin the process of imposing new restrictions on Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the agency should take steps toward adding DJI, the world's largest dronemaker, to the so-called covered list that would prohibit U.S. Universal Service Fund money from being used to purchase its equipment.
The DJI, which accounts for more than 50% of drone sales, said its drones are safe and secure for critical operations. Dedicated customers know that DJI drones remain the most affordable and most capable products for a wide variety of uses, including sensitive industrial and government work. In March, the FCC named five Chinese companies as posing a threat to national security under a 2019 law aimed at protecting U.S. communications networks and their networks.
The FCC has named ZTE Corp. Hytera Communications Corp., Huawei Technologies Co: 002583 001. SZ Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co.
Carr noted that the FCC has a separate ongoing effort to decide whether to approve equipment from entities on the covered list for use in the United States.
DJI drones and the surveillance technology on board these systems are collecting vast amounts of sensitive data-everything from high resolving images of critical infrastructure to facial recognition technology and remote sensors that can measure an individual s body temperature and heart rate, Carr said in a statement. We do not need an airborne Huawei smartphone. He said the FCC in consultation with national security agencies should also consider whether there are additional entities that warrant closer scrutiny. In December, DJI was added to the economic blacklist of the U.S. Commerce Department by the U.S. Commerce Department
Interior Department said it was grounded its fleet of about 800 Chinese drones and earlier stopped further Interior Department purchases of such drones.
In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned Chinese firms of the risks to U.S. business data from Chinese-made drones.