DJI Has the Power to Control Where Drones Can Fly. Ukraine Wants Them to Use It.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3nkg5/dji-has-the-power-to-control-where-drones-can-fly-ukraine-wants-them-to-use-it
Ukraine is asking Chinese drone manufacturer DJI to stop doing business with Russia. Because of how DJI drones work, the company has the technical capability to control where and when its products are flown because of “geofencing” technology it implemented several years ago.
In 2017, DJI, which makes some of the world’s most popular drones, implemented a no-fly zone (for DJI drones) over much of Iraq and Syria, ostensibly because ISIS was jury rigging DJI drones to use in attacks and war there. It did this with a technology called geofencing, in which software embedded in the drone prevents it from taking off or flying in certain geographic areas. DJI’s no-fly zones have also been implemented over specific sensitive areas throughout the world, such as prisons, military bases, and large swaths of Washington DC.