Supposing someone finds an MM after a flyaway , apart from the video recording is there any way to find the owner?

Put your name and number on the drone and hope for the best

Hello and and day minilou. Thank you for reaching out and for the inquiry. If someone finds a DJI Mavic Mini after a flyaway. You may contact the nearest police authorities if the owner reported the said incidenta and you may you contact us and provide the serial number of the said drone through PM for us to be able to check the serial number on our DJI database and for us to be able to help and find the owner of the drone. Thank you.

My advice is put your phone number top of the drone if anything bad happens. This way you will have more chance to get it back if you are lucky.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-11 09:30
It's always a good idea to put your phone number on your drone just in case it goes missing.  It doesn't guarantee you'll get it back if lost, but at least it gives whoever might find it a means to contact you.

Nice stickers on the top, like a mustang!

I do have an aluminum engraved plate on mine, Spanish regulations obliged you too. Same for RC and AC, not sure anybody would return them, but the good thing is that having DJI Care is linked to your email and serial number so it would be possible to track if somebody sells the drone.

What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 1-11 10:26
Nice stickers on the top, like a mustang!

I do have an aluminum engraved plate on mine, Spanish regulations obliged you too. Same for RC and AC, not sure anybody would return them, but the good thing is that having DJI Care is linked to your email and serial number so it would be possible to track if somebody sells the drone.

"What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON."

well....no.  because that works both ways.

DJI Stephen Posted at 1-11 09:16
Hello and and day minilou. Thank you for reaching out and for the inquiry. If someone finds a DJI Mavic Mini after a flyaway. You may contact the nearest police authorities if the owner reported the said incidenta and you may you contact us and provide the serial number of the said drone through PM for us to be able to check the serial number on our DJI database and for us to be able to help and find the owner of the drone. Thank you.

Can the owner of a lost/stolen MM contact DJI, verify that he is the owner by the S/N and ask DJI to de-activate this MM and get notification if somebody else try to activate/use it, and get drone's GPS locations?

The Saint Posted at 1-11 12:17
"What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON."

well....no.  because that works both ways.

Oh, The Saint, a fierce freedom fighter is back ...

Debugger Posted at 1-11 12:24
Can the owner of a lost/stolen MM contact DJI, verify that he is the owner by the S/N and ask DJI to de-activate this MM and get notification if somebody else try to activate/use it, and get drone's GPS locations?

No, this has been asked many times. They won't do it.

It is always a good idea to put the pilot's contact information on a .txt file and write it to the uSD card.

The Saint Posted at 1-11 12:17
"What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON."

well....no.  because that works both ways.

"What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON."
There's just the minor technical issue that DJI have no idea when any drone is turned on.
Your drone does not have the ability to notify DJI when or where it is flying.

Labroides Posted at 1-11 14:41
"What would be cool would be to report in DJI if you lost your drone or somebody stole it, and allow to ground it by software, like show you a GPS alert as soon as the drone turns ON."
There's just the minor technical issue that DJI have no idea when any drone is turned on.
Your drone does not have the ability to notify DJI when or where it is flying.

Can't  they see from a DJI login that the "new" owner has to enter when they start DJI Go 4 or DJI Fly for the first time ?

lannes Posted at 1-11 15:02
Can't  they see from a DJI login that the "new" owner has to enter when they start DJI Go 4 or DJI Fly for the first time ?

If you register a new account with DJI, they get those details but they don't know when you turn your drone on.
There's nothing in the drone that could send a signal to DJI.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-11 13:33
Thanks.  I have two computerized telescopes.  A nice feature is an "Owner's Info" field in the settings so you can enter your name & phone number.  It appears on the display during powerup.

A really cool feature for drones would be something like what's available in "LoJack for Laptops".  Once activated the computer checks in whenever it accesses the internet.  During the check in it reports its location & IP address, & looks for flags set by the owner.  For a computer flags include Locate, Lock, & Erase.  For a drone the Locate & Lock features would suffice.  LFL is persistent in many computers.  It resides in the system BIOS (CompuTrace) & will remain enabled even if the hard drive is replaced.

That's cool to know!

Many disagree with me, I was just giving my opinion since I think software wise, something could be done.
But again I rather not loose it in the first place.

My concern is, that since you only have to register a DJI account with your drone serial number to "activate" it, anybody could find/steal a drone, crash it or worst, create some issue at an airport and the AC would be somehow still linked to you from DJI care or another insurance...

Many years ago, I had a car broken into, and one of the original Escort radar detectors stolen.  I figured it was gone forever, bought a new one, and carried on.  The worst part of it all was that i NEVER got all of the broken glass particles out of EVERYWHERE in the car!  Vents, seats, every possible nook and cranny had tiny shards of that tempered glass from the broken driver's side window.  A true "smash and grab".

Some months later, I got a call from Escort.  They asked me if I had sold the detector to someone, and when I told them "No.", they told me that they had it.  Someone had sent it in to be repaired (because they'd connected it backwards to power, and just blown a fuse ahead of the reverse polarity protection diode).  No actual damage to the unit.  However, there was a small repair charge which, if I wanted the detector back, they'd fix it and send it to ME, not to the person who had sent it in for repairs.

They gave me the phone number of the person who had sent it in!  And they said that they could turn the sender's name and address in to my local police if I'd like.

I did pay, and had them send it to me.  They sent it in a brand new case with power cord, mounting clip, etc., just like it was new.  I then gave it to my brother, if I recall correctly.

Anyhow, they knew who it was registered to by the warranty and when that didn't match the name and other info of the person who sent it in for repairs, they called me.  Very cool!

I called the number and talked to the guy who had sent it in.  Of course, he insisted that he'd bought it from a store, and it was HIS.  When I told him that Escort did not sell their radar detectors from any stores, and only sold them directly, he didn't know what to say, but called me a liar anyhow.

I live in Wyoming.  Guess where the guy who sent it in lived?

New York City!  I was amazed at how far that thing had traveled.  It was probably sold on the street or something like that.  The guy may have bought it, but had to know it was hot.  Who knows?

Anyhow, I thought that was very professionally handled by Escort.

cute avatar

InspektorGadjet Posted at 1-11 10:26
Nice stickers on the top, like a mustang!

I do have an aluminum engraved plate on mine, Spanish regulations obliged you too. Same for RC and AC, not sure anybody would return them, but the good thing is that having DJI Care is linked to your email and serial number so it would be possible to track if somebody sells the drone.

Cool idea but there are just too many ways to abuse it.

Cheers!
=C=

Cal Evans Posted at 1-12 07:38
Cool idea but there are just too many ways to abuse it.

Cheers!

I understand there may be ways to abuse it, however I think the whole registration part of DJI drones, both new or second hand, should be easier and safer.

For what I know, there is no way to "transfer" ownership to another user/DJI account. If you register a drone with one account, that's it, that serial number registration will be linked to that account without a chance to cancel, or transfer it.

Why do I see this as an issue? Well if you need to change the email account because you dont have access to that server, or account was hacked and compromised, or you just want to sell and transfer the drone ownership to somebody else, you can't.

If you find or steal a drone and just register it, it's yours... it should be possible to know when your serial number is used again.

i would never buy a used drone knowing that the seller can lock it anytime he gets ready for any reason.

i really hope we don't go down this road in the future.

Sigmo Posted at 1-12 03:00
Many years ago, I had a car broken into, and one of the original Escort radar detectors stolen.  I figured it was gone forever, bought a new one, and carried on.  The worst part of it all was that i NEVER got all of the broken glass particles out of EVERYWHERE in the car!  Vents, seats, every possible nook and cranny had tiny shards of that tempered glass from the broken driver's side window.  A true "smash and grab".

Some months later, I got a call from Escort.  They asked me if I had sold the detector to someone, and when I told them "No.", they told me that they had it.  Someone had sent it in to be repaired (because they'd connected it backwards to power, and just blown a fuse ahead of the reverse polarity protection diode).  No actual damage to the unit.  However, there was a small repair charge which, if I wanted the detector back, they'd fix it and send it to ME, not to the person who had sent it in for repairs.

cool story.  same here i had an escort and a passport and a solo stolen but never recovered.  but of course i lived in minneapolis at the time so car theft was the normal.  the solo had a key so it wasn't going to work for much longer.  as a kid, i guess i never learned my lesson despite all that broken glass and spending a ton of money.

those were the most expensive radar detectors at the time so obviously cincinnati microwave took care of their customers.  however, i'm sure the escort store or whatever they call themselves, wouldn't do that do because their detectors are a pos.  we live in a different time and pretty much anything is possible.  i have a v1 now and there was also a time where you only got a v1 from one place.  not so anymore.  the world has changed and so have the courts/laws.

Debugger Posted at 1-11 12:24
Can the owner of a lost/stolen MM contact DJI, verify that he is the owner by the S/N and ask DJI to de-activate this MM and get notification if somebody else try to activate/use it, and get drone's GPS locations?

Hello and good day Debugger. Thank you for reaching out and for these information you have shared with us. As of this time DJI do not have this function of de-activating lost or stolen DJI drones. In addition I will cascade this information that you have posted to our designated DJI department for further attention. Thank you for supporting DJI.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-12 07:35
If DJI implemented something like the LoJack software & made it similarly persistent, it really wouldn't matter if DJI knew when a drone will connect.  Whenever it does connect, it would discreetly transmit its location & IP, as it does already.  If it has been flagged by the owner as lost or stolen, & a lock command issued, it would lock itself & display a message onscreen to the current operator.  

This would happen in the same way a drone checks for firmware updates or NFZ status when it gains internet access.  DJI certainly has no problem locking a bird in an NFZ.  The message would inform the operator that the drone is reported lost/stolen & locked, & can even provide a custom message from the owner like "Reward if returned" with contact info.  DJI would not need to be involved beyond implementing the feature.  The anti-theft status could just become another bit of info in the data they collect on all registered birds.

DJI certainly has no problem  locking a bird in an NFZ.  
That's not an indication that there is any communication between the drone and DJI.
The NFZ boundaries are listed in the firmware and the process is automatic.

The anti-theft status could just become another bit of info in  the data they collect on all registered birds.
What data do you imagine that DJI is collecting from all registered birds?
How?

The Saint Posted at 1-12 09:04
cool story.  same here i had an escort and a passport and a solo stolen but never recovered.  but of course i lived in minneapolis at the time so car theft was the normal.  the solo had a key so it wasn't going to work for much longer.  as a kid, i guess i never learned my lesson despite all that broken glass and spending a ton of money.

those were the most expensive radar detectors at the time so obviously cincinnati microwave took care of their customers.  however, i'm sure the escort store or whatever they call themselves, wouldn't do that do because their detectors are a pos.  we live in a different time and pretty much anything is possible.  i have a v1 now and there was also a time where you only got a v1 from one place.  not so anymore.  the world has changed and so have the courts/laws.

Back then, when the original Escort came out, it was so much better than anything else on the market that it really was a treat to use.  We had a passport later, and it, too was excellent.  I haven't used any such gadgets much since that time, though.

When I got the Escort, we were suffering under the 55mph national speed limit.  What I did for a living was travel all over troubleshooting and repairing random industrial electronics systems.  Having a radar detector was a way of life for us.

I remember riding with a "company man" for one of the major oil companies who did the same thing as me, as we went to some of their sites to get a remote control and telemetry system running.  He had one of the other popular radar detectors and, of course, the obligatory police scanner and CB radio.  He was more of a speeder than even  I was.

I brought the Escort, and we turned his POS off and ran the Escort.  He was blown away by how well it worked.  Back then, we'd get indications of Highway Patrol 20 miles ahead.  It was to the point that you didn't even bother slowing down until you got a lot closer and had a very strong signal strength indication on the meter.

It almost seemed unfair how well these detectors worked.  You almost felt sorry for the cops.  ;)

He bought an Escort within a few days of that trip with me.  

As time went on, the "arms race" would periodically even things out, and by now, the speed limits on the interstates around here are 80mph, which is reasonable, so I don't even bother with it all.  But back in the late '70s, speeding was almost required for the kind of work I did.

...................... double post, can't delete.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-11 09:30
It's always a good idea to put your phone number on your drone just in case it goes missing.  It doesn't guarantee you'll get it back if lost, but at least it gives whoever might find it a means to contact you.

Nice, how do you print those labels?

The Saint Posted at 1-12 08:57
i would never buy a used drone knowing that the seller can lock it anytime he gets ready for any reason.

i really hope we don't go down this road in the future.

This is a solvable issue if DJI would want to solve it. Apple already solved it with their iCloud lock so they could just use that pattern... the seller would have to remove the drone from his DJI account with the buyer present and then the buyer would be free to register it under his own account.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-13 01:27
Totally agree.  I have the Lojack software on several of my computers.  Nice knowing if one gets lifted I can track it, lock it, & even erase it to protect my data.

certainly makes sense to have such protection when you are talking about sensitive or critical data.  if someone steals your computer, you don't want them to get access to something much more important, all the data.  i don't think lojack is primarily used to deprive the thief of using the computer itself so i'm not sure exactly the benefit for a drone.  there simply is no real value in trying to prevent someone else from flying your drone.  if so, at a minimum i would start with a lock code which would be the most inexpensive way.  but this is america, if someone wants to come up with a lojack for drones, go for it.  if the market demands it, it will come.  but i just don't see dji spending the time and money to put this in all of their drones and as i said before, then it becomes a tool that if you don't want, how do you get rid of it?  the horse has left the barn with mobile phones but i point you to other scenarios how they have played out for example:  automobiles (optional) and guns (non-existent).  so i guess it depends.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-13 09:14
No one could really implement such a system except DJI as it would require root access to the drone firmware.  It would require only a small bit of code.  The location report & flag check would occur during the same period the drone checks for firmware & flysafe database updates.  If someone doesn't want to use the feature then they don't.  When selling or retiring a drone you simply deregister it like you would a Firestick or Alexa device.  Not expecting DJI to do it but it is a cool & achievable idea.

the us govt probably believes this code is already in the dji drones and unfortunately I have to agree with them, it Is unwanted.  not as an option to use or not, but I don't want that kind of code in there period.  sorry I don't trust any govt entity.

Your phone number is your best bet, dji have said on numerous occasions on this forum they do not give out information so with no contact details on your drone it’s not going to be easy.

I think it’s not human nature to steal so there’s a real good chance of getting you drone back once it’s on dry land .