China's DJI unveils drone-to-phone tracking technology amid growing privacy backlash
- DJI says its app would work on drones within a 1 kilometre range using Wi-fi Aware-enabled smart phones
China’s DJI, the world’s largest commercial drone maker, said on Wednesday it is developing technology that would allow the public to track the registrations of drones in flight using just a smartphone, amid a broader industry push to make such data available.
Shenzhen-based DJI aims to roll out a free app in 2020, pending regulatory approval, that would allow its users for the first time to identify any modern drone with a phone, company executives told Reuters.
The push for remote identification technology comes amid regulatory calls for greater oversight of drone flight, on fears that untraceable, unmanned aircraft could be used for spying or accidentally disrupt commercial flights.
DJI, which has an estimated 70 per cent global market share according to industry analysts, demonstrated its drone-to-phone transmission app at the United Nations aviation agency’s Drone Enable conference in Montreal, Canada.
“We’ve created a remote identification solution that works with what people already have,” said Brendan Schulman, vice-president of policy and legal affairs at DJI.
While remote identification technology is already available on the market, the services are for purchase, involve equipment, and are often aimed at groups like companies, airports and law enforcement, industry executives said.