TL;DR
- According to two independent and impartial safety organizations, the DJI Go 4 app features several dubious settings.
- The app, at the very minimum, contravenes several of Google’s Play Store guidelines.
- DJI vehemently denied the majority of the allegations in its lengthy statement.
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In reality, issues aren’t necessarily the detrimental problems they’re often perceived to be.
The Google Play Store’s critical standards contain concerning backend settings, as revealed by two independent reviews uncovered by. Following a thorough examination of the app’s code, investigators from reputable safety firms found that the software not only flagrantly disregards Google’s Play Store guidelines but also potentially exploited users’ data for surveillance purposes, sparking grave concerns about privacy breaches. DJI is one of the world’s largest and most profitable commercial drone manufacturers. According to publicly available data, the DJI GO 4 app has reportedly been downloaded between 1 million and 5 million times, with an exact figure remaining uncertain.
One notable red flag concerning the app is its potential to install any utility on a user’s device, either through self-updating or dedicated installers from China’s Weibo social media giant. While each app may obtain code from outside the Play Store, a design choice that directly contravenes Google’s.
However, an earlier version of the app featured a component that transmitted and dispatched copious amounts of sensitive data to MobTech, a Chinese-based SDK developer located on the mainland. Data accessed by the characteristic included the telephone’s unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) serial number, Secure Digital (SD) card data, Bluetooth device addresses, and other relevant information. The DJI company eliminated this performance issue with its latest release of the DJI Go 4 mobile application.
The researchers claim that the app can reboot itself with reckless abandon whenever you attempt to close it, allowing it to continue operating in the background and initiating network requests without your knowledge or consent.
Despite claims of “hypothetical vulnerabilities,” a DJI spokesperson failed to provide evidence that these flaws were ever exploited, leaving the authenticity of the findings uncertain.
A spokesperson for the company stated: “The app replaces an operation described in these reviews, which serves the essential security goal of preventing the misuse of hacked applications that attempt to circumvent our geofencing or altitude limit settings.” Geofencing technology complies with FAA regulations by restricting drone flight operations near sensitive areas such as airports, prisons, and other prohibited zones. DJI subsequently addressed concerns raised by reviewers by unveiling additional measures designed to mitigate the issues. Before diving in deeply, consider grasping the fundamental concept first?
Significantly, the company asserts that its application does not automatically restart without explicit customer input. Notably, DJI has thus far been unable to replicate this behavior in its evaluations. The app has recently rectified this by eliminating MobTech and Bugly components, following a previous report highlighting issues with these software development kits.
Google, for its part, has acknowledged that it’s exploring ways to address concerns around these reviews.
This issue has complex dimensions. One major limitation is that software companies consistently fail to thoroughly scrutinize the software development kits (SDKs) they rely on to create their applications, allowing vulnerabilities and security risks to persist. Recently, Facebook faced backlash for partnering with a company whose software development kit (SDK) potentially put the data of 9.5 million users at risk. The open architecture of Android, combined with Google’s reliance on automated vetting processes, creates an environment in which apps can easily evade the company’s app store policies and go undetected.
When purchasing a DJI drone and concerns about privacy arise, it’s advisable to temporarily remove the DJI GO 4 app until Google concludes its probe. If Google detects a concerning issue, crucial information you need to know includes?
