Chinese drones from Rijkswaterstaat and the police possibly unsafe

The Dutch police and Rijkswaterstaat use drones made in China, of which it is not certain that the data they collect is safe. This emerges from research by the Investico platform, the conclusions of which are reported by Fidelity, One today on The Green Amsterdammer.

These are drones from the company Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), which is the global market leader in the field of unmanned commercial aircraft. Various researchers have established in the past that images and other data collected with the drones can leak to the Chinese government. There are also reports that software can be installed through a back door on the phones of those who use the drone.

This was the reason for the Dutch Ministry of Defense to no longer use DJI’s drones. The data is often not protected and is usually located on Chinese servers. “The owners can be obliged to make these available to the Chinese government,” said a Defense spokesperson in Trouw.

Murder of Peter R. de Vries and Delta Works

The police admit to Investico that it cannot be ruled out that the data ends up on Chinese servers. The drones have already been deployed more than a thousand times this year, including for investigation and maintaining public order. They often take to the air during demonstrations. It is much easier to see where people gather from the air than from the ground. A drone went up in the air after the murder of Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam.

Rijkswaterstaat uses DJI drones for inspections of bridges, locks and flood defences, such as the Delta Works. According to a spokesperson, this offers major advantages: it is safer, faster and traffic does not have to be stopped.

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