As states ban Chinese-made drones, officers raise alarm

Weeks before a ban on the government use of foreign-made drones was to take effect in his state, Sheriff Hobe Runion sat in his Sebastian County headquarters and strategized how to beat the clock. “If there is a loophole and I can find it, I absolutely (will),” Runion said in a recent interview. In June, one of his deputies used a small Chinese-made drone on a ‘shots fired’ call to approach the suspect by air, allowing law enforcement officers to maintain a safe distance while assessing the danger. The deputies saw no threat and left, without putting anyone in harm’s way.But after July 31, Runion’s department – and all government agencies in Arkansas – cannot buy that specific drone because it’s made by SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd, commonly known as DJI, a company based in China. DJI has the lion’s share of the U.S. domestic drone market, and is a popular choice for its features, ease of use and affordability. The new state law says drones made by any Chinese or Russian company cannot be purchased with taxpayer money. Drones already in use by state agencies have to be grounded within four years.“Nobody can ever accuse me of not supporting our nation, our community,” Runion said. “I've got 33 years in law enforcement, over 20 years in the military, 17 years on a volunteer fire department. I think I understand a lot about service to our country and the security of our country.” Runion added, “I would absolutely do what I can to get the best product, the best service to our citizens as I can.”WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTIAN COUNTY, ARKANSAS, SHERIFF HOBE RUNION Spying fears A growing number of states are introducing and passing legislation to ban government use of some foreign-made drones over fears the unmanned aerial systems could be used to surreptitiously map critical domestic infrastructure, spy on Americans and transmit sensitive data overseas. At least four states now have bans in effect. Arkansas adopted its drone ban in April. One hundred percent of drones registered to law enforcement in that state are from Chinese companies, according to data obtained by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit from the Federal Aviation Administration and current as of May 15. The FAA requires drone owners to register their devices, although not all are believed to do so. That same month, the governor of Mississippi signed into law a similar ban; 95.2% of law enforcement drones there are Chinese, according to the FAA data analyzed by Hearst Television. Tennessee, where 100 percent of government drones currently registered with the federal government are Chinese-made, also implemented a ban this year.Florida’s ban took full effect this year, after a stepped rollout of legislation signed in 2021. Despite the phase-in, 70.4 percent of drones registered to law enforcement in that state are still Chinese-made, even though none of those were supposed to be operated by law enforcement as of January 1 of this year. To help local law enforcement agencies replace those drones, Florida lawmakers in the 2023 legislative session approved a $25 million buy-back program for agencies that use now-prohibited drones.Other states are considering bans, including Alabama, where 94.6 percent of law enforcement drones are Chinese-made.Homeland security risk?National security concerns and homeland security risks are key motivating factors for the lawmakers sponsoring drone bans, including Arkansas State Sen. Justin Boyd and State Rep. Brit McKenzie, both Republicans."I think it's important that when you have a Chinese military-funded organization and they control 80% of the market, you have to give other opportunities out there for privacy and security,” Sen. Boyd said in an interview. "Chinese-made drones pose a threat,” Rep. McKenzie added. “We're ahead of the curve in terms of other states and other legislatures that are taking over this issue."WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH ARKANSAS DRONE BAN BILL AUTHORS SEN. JUSTIN BOYD AND REP. BRIT MCKENZIE Four bills in Congress include drone bans after lawmakers warned in hearings and statements of China "stealing our data" using drones. The US military and the departments of State and Interior already ban buying Chinese-made drones. A 2021 executive order by then-President Donald Trump said use of foreign-made drones "may allow" sensitive data to be "transferred" out of the country. In 2022, the Department of Defense released a statement identifying DJI as a “Chinese military company” operating in the United States.According to Brian Harrell, a former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, more states and agencies should ban foreign-made drones."They're Chinese-manufactured, they're Chinese-made. And we're seeing a lot of data leave proprietary I.T. systems and go overseas to a nation-state adversary that doesn't like the United States,” Harrell said in an interview at the University of Maryland's Southern Maryland Autonomous Research and Technology Innovation Center. “I can say that wearing my previous hat, I've seen a number of incidents and critical infrastructure companies reporting to the U.S. government that this information, their information has potentially been stolen. And the mechanism… was DJI drones,” he said.Harrell said those incident reports remain classified.WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN HARRELL, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITYDJI denies data leaks “That’s simply not true,” said Adam Welsh, head of global policy for DJI. “We've had numerous audits, cybersecurity and data security audits that show no data is going back to China. Some of those audits we actually paid for ourselves, but other audits were either undertaken by the U.S. government using Idaho National Labs or the Department of Interior, which used NASA and others to vet our products. In all cases, they found that no data was going back to China. So, the evidence is definitely on our side,” Welsh said in an interview. DJI’s privacy policy listed on its website discloses to users, however, that their information collected by the company “may be transferred to and accessed by DJI entities and business partners globally.” Welsh acknowledged that transfer does occur but said the scope of information transmitted is limited and users are notified when that communication takes place.“The only case where data would be transferred to China – and you would be notified of this fact – is if there were some sort of warranty issue or there were some sort of malfunction with the drone,” Welsh said.WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH ADAM WELSH, HEAD OF GLOBAL POLICY FOR DRONE MANUFACTURER DJIBans split political alliancesThe company has strong defenders, even splitting political alliances.At a Florida state senate hearing in March, Sen. Tom Wright, the Republican chairman of the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space and Domestic Security, lambasted the representative sent by the administration of fellow Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis."Why are you doing this to these men and women?” Sen. Wright asked of Pedro Allende, the secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services, which oversees the state’s newly-strengthened ban on most foreign-made drones, as he sat at a witness table along with uniformed members of law enforcement who all support using Chinese-made drones. Wright added, "I'm not going to let one officer risk his life or her life because somebody thinks these things talk to China.”'Buyer beware' To give law enforcement and other government agencies a method to assess cyber-secure drones, the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International launched a certification process to create a ‘cleared’ list of unmanned aerial systems. The ‘green uas’ program has 15 manufacturers participating so far, allowing their drone products to undergo rigorous compliance training and committing to making recommended changes to increase cybersecurity and transparency. Tobias Whitney, vice president of strategy and policy at Fortress Information Security, an Orlando, Fla.-based cyber risk solutions firm that assists in assessing drone products for ‘green’ certification, calls drones a “true emerging threat that we’re just starting to get our arms around as an industry.”“Where are the cameras coming from? Where is the data stored? Where is the data being transferred to? Who has access to that data?” Whitney asked.“We’re not trying to slow down the market, per se, but we do want to make sure that those that are users of drones, those that are buyers of drones and also those that are selling drones have a full understanding of the potential risks associated with those technologies,” he added. “I’m saying buyer beware, buyer be informed.”WATCH EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS WHITNEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGY AND POLICY AT FORTRESS INFORMATION SECURITY.Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. Tamika Cody, Reid Bolton, David Barcenas, David Postovit, Carla O, Rashida Anderson-Abdullah, Eric Robinson, Micah Delacy, and Pete Delis contributed to this report.Know of drone threats where you live? Have a confidential tip or inside information? Send information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.WATCH THE HEARST TELEVISION NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT’S ONGOING SERIES ON DRONE DEFENSE: Part 1 (Nov. 7. 2019) Part 2 (Nov. 4, 2021)Part 3 (July 24, 2023)