While flight records, images, and videos are not collected and synced with DJI by default across DJI’s consumer and enterprise drone products, drone operators have always had the option to opt-in and sync this data based on personal preference, and in cases where they need to send their drone to DJI for repair or after-sales service.

DJI continually evaluates its data policy in line with market demands and privacy expectations. As such, starting June 2024, DJI will no longer offer the option for consumer and enterprise drone operators in the United States to sync their flight records to DJI’s servers.

Additionally, thumbnail previews will no longer be generated and shown on the DJI Fly app interface for consumer drones globally. Enterprise drone operators are not affected, as their drones did not feature thumbnails to begin with.

Strategic Timeline:

From June 12 onwards

U.S. only: The "Sync Flight Data" option in the flight app’s Settings will be disabled. Operators who try to upload their local flight records will receive an error message that the upload failed.

From June 27 onwards

U.S. only: The “Sync Flight Data” option will disappear from the Settings page as part of the next update of DJI Fly (Mid-July for DJI Pilot 2).

Global: Thumbnail previews will no longer be generated or shown on the flight app interface as part of the next update.

DJI recommends that operators who have previously opted in to syncing their flight records with DJI, download and create a backup of their flight records as soon as possible.

Disabling the flight record sync option will only take effect in the U.S. at this time. DJI will assess user experience and feedback before considering a broader rollout to other regions. This initiative demonstrates DJI’s continued commitment to striking a balance between user convenience and increasing privacy expectations.

Additional Information

If I’m based outside of the U.S., what changes will happen to my flight app if I fly in the U.S.?

If a user from another region travels to the U.S. and generates flight records during their stay, those flight records will not be synced to their flight data after leaving the U.S.

What will happen if I don't download the data stored in the cloud?

This change does not affect normal flight functions. However, once flight records which users previously opted-in to sync on the server are deleted, the flight data cannot be retrieved.

If I am from the U.S. but travel overseas, what happens to my flight app?

When a user from the United States travels to another region, the flight record synchronization toggle may reappear, allowing flight records generated in that region to be uploaded and downloaded normally. However, upon returning to the United States, the flight record synchronization toggle will be disabled again, and uploading will not be possible.

Can I opt-out of this update? I want my flight records!

Please note that you will still be able to access your flight records manually. It will be stored in the controller or the SD card.

How will this update affect third-party apps?

Third-party flight software that has been built through DJI’s Mobile SDK will not be affected.

Will previously uploaded flight records be affected?

Flight records that have already been uploaded to the cloud are currently still available for download. However, those generated within the U.S. will be deleted moving forward. To ensure that your valuable flight memories are not lost, it is recommended that users within the United States back up their cloud-based flight records as soon as possible.

If the user does not update the flight app, will the original interface remain unchanged? Can flight records still be uploaded?

The user will need to be connected to the internet in order to try and upload (or download previously uploaded) flight records. From June 12, operators will no longer be able to upload new flight records as the connection to the server would have already been disabled in the U.S. Instead, operators will see a “Download” button that they can use to access and save a copy of their previous flight records data manually to local storage in the next update.

Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-6 05:43
Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

Seems more like a last ditch effort to assuage fears over data acquisition.  It would have been nice if they would've made these efforts more proactively, as it seems a bit too late now

Exactly how do I download all of my uploaded flight data on to my RC 2??

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-6 05:43
Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

No that does not mean that at all. DJI move in doing this  is so some ... scared Maga-Trump

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-6 05:43
Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

I don't read it that way at all.

Syncing your logs to their servers was always optional - you had to turn it on for it to happen.

If users chose to upload their logs then it's hardly unethical collection of data.

With this change, US users will no longer have that option, so all US users will be forced into the same position as those who left syncing switched off.

You could, of course, choose the conspiracy theory option and believe that DJI were harvesting your data anyway regardless of how you set that sync switch, but DJInremoving that switch does not mean that they couldn't continue to do that anyway. If they are doing that then it is clearing and should be stopped, but has anyone ever proven or found any evidence of that at all?

My take is that DJI have moved to remove this option as a way of trying to demonstrate ronUS legislators that they are willing to make changes to asuage fears in a way that legislators might understand. Even though removing a switch proves nothing.

Interesting timing on making this change.  

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-6 05:43
Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

I would have thought it might be an attempt to remove the foundations underpinning the theory that the drones are passing on sensitive information

SjK_oldman Posted at 6-7 10:15
Exactly how do I download all of my uploaded flight data on to my RC 2??

Just trigger a sync on the controller.
Alternatively instal the app or apps on a phone, log into your account and  then sync the phone. That should give you a set of logs on the phone that you can save, via USB, to a computer.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 6-8 05:34
Just trigger a sync on the controller.
Alternatively instal the app or apps on a phone, log into your account and  then sync the phone. That should give you a set of logs on the phone that you can save, via USB, to a computer.

Not making any sense

Pretty much all tech companies have been less than truthful when it comes to your data, Apple just had pictures you had supposedly deleted, years ago suddenly re-appear. Hmmm, so they are keeping all your photos someplace. I know my phone went from having 1,200 or so pics to suddenly having 3K of them overnight. No nothing to see there. Goggle was tracking your browsing even after you selected do not track. The good old, do no evil, Google was actually evil personified. Facebook or whatever they call themselves now, what was it they did with your data, everything. So you are all actually surprised about DJI?

Look, it turns out that Tic Tock was an evil intel gathering program. You see all those silly dances where actually secret messages passed back to the mainland. Kind of like the dances bees do. They had tens of  thousands of analysis's spending hours pouring over the dances, decoding them. Those poor people.

SjK_oldman Posted at 6-8 08:35
Not making any sense

When you trigger/start a sync in the app it can do two things,
1) upload new logs to DJI
2) download, from DJI, logs that are currently missing from the controller's app. Obviously those missing logs must have been uploaded to DJI on a previous occasion.

If you instal the app on a phone etc. and login to your DJI account you have an App with NO logs, a sync would therefore hopefully download, to the 'empty phone', all the previously uploaded logs.

Note, if applicable each app, Go, Go4 & Fly will download ONLY their own logs and, if you have multiple accounts ONLY those logs that belong to the current login.

How do I back up my flight records?

djiuser_UFoFTF3j0PR4 Posted at 6-7 23:22
No that does not mean that at all. DJI move in doing this  is so some ... scared Maga-Trump

My sentiments exactly.

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-6 05:43
Is this a confession that validates the theory that DJI is exploiting its customers' data in a less than ethical manner?

Hi there,

We apologize for the inconvenience. DJI continually evaluates  our data policy in line with market demands and privacy expectations.

I hope this information has helped to clarify your inquiries. If you have any other questions, kindly let us know. Thank You!

popovd91 Posted at 6-8 17:17
How do I back up my flight records?

Hi there,

You still can obtain the fligth records of your post flight at DJI Fly V1.13.8 which will support batch download of flight records, allowing users to batch download flight records from the cloud to local mobile devices.

Note: During the download of flight records, please do not to remove the SD card. If the SD card is removed, the contents of the SD card may be damaged and need to be formatted before it can be restored.

Please stay tuned for further notifications if there are any changes.

I hope this information has helped to clarify your inquiries. If you have any other questions, kindly let us know. Thank You!

DJI Natalia Posted at 6-9 02:15
Hi there,

You still can obtain the fligth records of your post flight at DJI Fly V1.13.8 which will support batch download of flight records, allowing users to batch download flight records from the cloud to local mobile devices.

What will happen to the RC and RC 2 controllers how will we sync our flight logs with say AIRDATA, how will that be possible?

DJI Natalia Posted at 6-9 02:13
Hi there,

We apologize for the inconvenience. DJI continually evaluates  our data policy in line with market demands and privacy expectations.

That's great...

How about the rest of the world and how about removing the forced login as well...  

Dogpilot Posted at 6-8 09:07
Pretty much all tech companies have been less than truthful when it comes to your data, Apple just had pictures you had supposedly deleted, years ago suddenly re-appear. Hmmm, so they are keeping all your photos someplace. I know my phone went from having 1,200 or so pics to suddenly having 3K of them overnight. No nothing to see there. Goggle was tracking your browsing even after you selected do not track. The good old, do no evil, Google was actually evil personified. Facebook or whatever they call themselves now, what was it they did with your data, everything. So you are all actually surprised about DJI?

Look, it turns out that Tic Tock was an evil intel gathering program. You see all those silly dances where actually secret messages passed back to the mainland. Kind of like the dances bees do. They had tens of  thousands of analysis's spending hours pouring over the dances, decoding them. Those poor people.

Hahaha. I love it

My only ask is that if it is banned and shunned, that my drones not be grounded... Unable to take off after update..... i will be ok with them staying the same as they are today forever... At the worst they be offline and not able to connect to Internet at all..... Just a flying camera, but the tariffs and the outright banning is craziness. Follow the money folks...  Whos getting the money., i bet its a corrupt politician.

How does this affect the warranty process, since we had to prove fly away or crash via flight logs?

Laura Engelke Posted at 6-10 07:21
How does this affect the warranty process, since we had to prove fly away or crash via flight logs?

Yes my question as well
How does this change  effect the care refresh of my mavic 3 and mini 2 as where the agreement was i had to keep my dji data as proof of operations in case of an crash of fly way.
hows that going to work now?

Ms Ivy Posted at 6-10 08:36
Yes my question as well
How does this change  effect the care refresh of my mavic 3 and mini 2 as where the agreement was i had to keep my dji data as proof of operations in case of an crash of fly way.
hows that going to work now?

DJI never asks for online synchronized information. What they want are the log files that are in the memory of the drone and/or the RC if applicable.
At least with Europe after-sales service, that's how it works.

LV_Forestry Posted at 6-10 08:50
DJI never asks for online synchronized information. What they want are the log files that are in the memory of the drone and/or the RC if applicable.
At least with Europe after-sales service, that's how it works.

I see, but with fly-aways you wouldnt have access to th drone dat  so you need the controllers flight data correct?
plus I wonder how this will work for remote unlocking to fly in geo restricted areas? it still require location information and flight reason, so if data is restricted how do we unlock geozones? pre apply for unlocking online? no more geozones?

Is the forum user's level determined by uploading logs and flight distance?   

found a simple solution:
I bought a type-c plug SD card reader for my Samsung galaxy s21 ultra phone, that I can use any kind of sd card and , or a SSD drive to store my pictures and data on directly from my phone.
That allow me to create a copy of the DJI flight data folder in my phone and sync it directly to the SD card on the card reader to download & store all my DJI flight data on instead of eating up my phone storage space.  then in the future if i were need to see  or use the flight  history data,  I just plug in the card reader and open the fly app and the data is there for the dji app to read, I can also download all the black box flight data as well to the SD card  of course it does not download the data automaticlly you have to download it manually to the SD card. and drag the folder back to the dji fly app to read the flight data.
But this has been the best work around solution for me working with a parrot USA drone, and it works great for a Mavic 3 using phones with a type-c plug , other wise you can pay Aloft $30 a month to upload  & store your data,
Airdata.com is useless if you have a android 13 or newer device as you can not upload flight data with airdata.com app with android 13 or newer. Funny their work around is to sync with the dji server which is not going to be a option for USA flyers after the 12th,

Pete and Repeat were in a boat Pete got out who's left?  Repeat! ~ Pete and Repeat were in a boat Pete got out who's left?  Repeat!

Ms Ivy Posted at 6-10 15:31
found a simple solution:
I bought a type-c plug SD card reader for my Samsung galaxy s21 ultra phone, that I can use any kind of sd card and , or a SSD drive to store my pictures and data on directly from my phone.
That allow me to create a copy of the DJI flight data folder in my phone and sync it directly to the SD card on the card reader to download & store all my DJI flight data on instead of eating up my phone storage space.  then in the future if i were need to see  or use the flight  history data,  I just plug in the card reader and open the fly app and the data is there for the dji app to read, I can also download all the black box flight data as well to the SD card  of course it does not download the data automaticlly you have to download it manually to the SD card. and drag the folder back to the dji fly app to read the flight data.

Hi Ms Ivy!

We do have support for auto sync of DJI flight logs on Android 13/14 - please check out our help article:
https://app.airdata.com/wiki/Hel ... n+Android+13+and+14

Happy flying!
Eran

No Original Thought Posted at 6-8 03:09
I don't read it that way at all.

Syncing your logs to their servers was always optional - you had to turn it on for it to happen.

Deleted.

RadioRoss Posted at 6-9 21:41
My only ask is that if it is banned and shunned, that my drones not be grounded... Unable to take off after update..... i will be ok with them staying the same as they are today forever... At the worst they be offline and not able to connect to Internet at all..... Just a flying camera, but the tariffs and the outright banning is craziness. Follow the money folks...  Whos getting the money., i bet its a corrupt politician.

You're close, the person getting the money from ridiculously lucrative government contracts is the the ex Navy SEAL who owns the drone company that replaced DJI for government usage. I won't say the name of the company, but they put out a crappy consumer drone in order to build a customer base for their drone business solely for the purpose of getting a government contract. Now they build $40,000 drones for the military. When this particular drone company began manufacturing military grade drones, DJI was kicked to the street. There isn't a single individual who works for the US government who is in a corrupt, evil, degenerate bastard. They have no souls, they have no free will, and they put absolutely no value on human life or well-being. Every single elected official is an evil, wicked being. The millions of people who work for the government in a non-elected capacity are just brainless robots.. not even human as far as I'm concerned.

RadioRoss Posted at 6-9 21:37
Hahaha. I love it

Aside from you lovely people, most US citizens are dangerously unaware of just how much data is harvested from every single electronic device they own.  Every single bit and bite that travels across the internet is "harvested" and saved on Amazon AWS servers and US government server farms. DOCUMENTED FACT.  If you want to learn something about it, look up PRISM and William Benny. Those who continue saying this is a conspiracy theory need to be drowned. We are losing our country to soulless, authoritarian scum.
There's absolutely no excuse for the ignorance surrounding the subject of data harvesting. Anyone who pays attention to US legislation should know that they are currently trying to pass a law that will allow them to retroactively prosecute US citizens for past internet "offenses".
Sadly, the subhuman Neanderthals who live in this country (US) are unforgivably ignorant of reality. Fear has destroyed their minds. The consequences of their apathy and ignorance will be pure hell.

It is incredibly difficult for me to read these comments without becoming angry, because the level of stupidity displayed by 90% of the users in this forum is unfathomable to me.
I don't understand how humans can be so void of intelligence and wisdom. It's as if no one understands how anything around them works. The average IQ of modern humans is dropping like a greased lead brick, and it just keeps on dropping.
We live in a society of fools who are completely unable to live in the moment. People are always thinking about what happened yesterday, or what is going to happen tomorrow, and this clouds there minds with worthless thoughts and a constant inner monologue that prevents them from paying attention to their senses or the environment around them... therefore they are unable to learn anything of substantial value.
I can say with a huge degree of certainty that 90% of the people on this planet will not survive another 10 years. No intelligence and no wisdom is a very bad thing.

It appears that many people are quite ignorant of the fact that nearly every DJI drone stores flight metadata on an onboard SD card or flash memory. Your flight records are not used by DJI for warranty or performance gauging purposes. The Drone records you sync with the cloud are solely for your personal use.
Everyone should know this. Drone technology has been around well over a decade... and its parent technology, computers, have been around for well over 50 years... for the love of god! How are people so ignorant of technology they use everyday???  
Humans are definitely devolving.

No Original Thought Posted at 6-8 03:09
I don't read it that way at all.

Syncing your logs to their servers was always optional - you had to turn it on for it to happen.

Oh my god. How stupid are you. Every single company that manufactures a device that connects to the internet is harvesting your data. If you do not have the resources or the intelligence to find this information, perhaps you should drive your car into a lake.

eran_steiner Posted at 6-10 18:35
Hi Ms Ivy!

We do have support for auto sync of DJI flight logs on Android 13/14 - please check out our help article:

Thank you very much Eran for your help , the information is very helpful but. there seems to be a lot of complicated steps to take to make the airdata app work
Is there away we can just upload the flight data fles manually to airdata.com?   My Card reader works very good for extracting & saving the flight data.
I do like using airdata.com.  I have been using them for years  But I may just wait for Airdata and Google find a simpler solution for new Android 13 -14 versions. taking all those steps It seems very complicated.  I'm not very  confident in messing with the inner working with my s21 phone. other than exacting copy of files & pictures from my phone.  

Phantom Master Posted at 6-11 04:57
Oh my god. How stupid are you. Every single company that manufactures a device that connects to the internet is harvesting your data. If you do not have the resources or the intelligence to find this information, perhaps you should drive your car into a lake.

Wow... from the guy who thinks everything is being stored on AWS.... and reckons that is documented fact... laughable.

Hmm.. I've worked in communications for more than 30 years. I am fully aware of what is possible, and also what is practical. One collector collecting ALL traffic on the internet, even with the many global access points that something like AWS has, just wouldn't work. That's not how IP works, even with promiscuous snopping, you cant get visibility of ALL traffc on the internet. You can only see what passes through 'gateways' that you control, and AWS does not own all of the gateways on all of the internet.

Yes, anything connected to the internet COULD collect your data and share it... carrying a smartphone which has access to a lot of personal information is the biggest risk anyone takes.

BUT, operating systems have mechanisms that stop processes from accessing unrelated processes.

Let's take Android, for example (and I develop on Android as well, by the way. No expert, but I do have some experience). Google/Alphabet makes Android.

In theory Google could allow Android to access any and all information on your Android device. They say they don't, but who knows.

BUT, Android does not allow unrelated processes to access unrelated information. Remember Android is built on Linux which has a good basis for this kind of thing.

So, even if DJI built the fly app to share infromation, it only has access to information that the OS gives it access to (unless DJI found a flaw that gets around Android and Linux's protection systems. Which, if they did, would be far more valuable than selling drones.).

So, you give the Fly app access to your photos, in theory DJI could be snaffling your photos while you sleep. Well good look.. no state secrets there. They can track the location of my phone... fine by me. What use is that? If I am carrying out sensitive work I shouldn't be using the phone that I install DJI apps on.

Yes, my flight logs will be updated... the ones that were stored on the drone... what else does the drone have access to? Well, it has a radio built in so intheory while I am flying it, it could be snooping on any other RF signals around, storing those and forwarding those to DJI and the Chinese government - but now we are getting into tinfoil hat territory.

Consumer drone flight logs don't seem like sensitive information to me. I'd be far more worried about the data my connected car collects and sends back to tthe manufacturer than flight logs on a consumer drone.

Obviously in a miltary context things are different... location could be sensitive especially if being shared in real time, but also sharing that data historically could be a security risk. But consumer drones.. the best you can do there is create a map of where people fly most frequently!

Honest question: What exactly do you think that DJI are collecting and sharing with the Chinese government that they shouldn't be?

I'm genuinely interested to have my mind changed on this, but your rants above seem pretty confused and irrational to me.

Exactly how do I download my flight records?  3month old Mini 3   App  v1.13.4  RC-N1    04.16.0500 ?   I want to be able to see my records? Airdata ?

Ms Ivy Posted at 6-11 05:54
Thank you very much Eran for your help , the information is very helpful but. there seems to be a lot of complicated steps to take to make the airdata app work
Is there away we can just upload the flight data fles manually to airdata.com?   My Card reader works very good for extracting & saving the flight data.
I do like using airdata.com.  I have been using them for years  But I may just wait for Airdata and Google find a simpler solution for new Android 13 -14 versions. taking all those steps It seems very complicated.  I'm not very  confident in messing with the inner working with my s21 phone. other than exacting copy of files & pictures from my phone.  

Hi Ms Ivy!

Yes, it's very easy to upload flight logs manually - please be sure to check out this help article:
https://app.airdata.com/wiki/Help/AirData+Uploads+Overview
Click "4. Manual Upload Page"  to learn more.

Basically, to manually upload flights, you go to the upload page:
https://app.airdata.com/main?a=upload
And drag and drop the log files from your desktop into the upload box. Be sure to copy the log files from your SD card to your desktop first, because trying to drag and drop from the SD card to the upload page won't work.

I hope this helps!
Eran

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 6-8 05:34
Just trigger a sync on the controller.
Alternatively instal the app or apps on a phone, log into your account and  then sync the phone. That should give you a set of logs on the phone that you can save, via USB, to a computer.

What about an RC-N1

Ferd Berfel Posted at 6-11 11:09
What about an RC-N1

When using the RC-N1, the logs are recorded in the connected tablet/phone and getting the logs off those is a walk in the park.
Go to
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/
Read the instructions lower down that page and copy or move the .txt and .DAT flight logs to you computer.
From there you can manually upload the .txt flight logs to that site or airdata.

Note that there are two possible locations for fly app logs, the location used depends on the version of the fly app.

eran_steiner Posted at 6-11 10:54
Hi Ms Ivy!

Yes, it's very easy to upload flight logs manually - please be sure to check out this help article:

bingo works like a charm thank you Eran