NO FLY ZONE

The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announced Thursday that it had issued new guidance banning the use of agency grants to purchase drones and other unmanned aerial systems from foreign groups deemed threats.

The guidance, issued Monday but made public on Thursday, is meant to address potential cyber and foreign influence threats, and prohibits grants from being used to purchase drones from entities “determined or designated, within the Department of Justice, to be subject to or vulnerable to extrajudicial direction from a foreign government.”

The guidance also seeks to promote the security of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by requiring applicants for OJP loans to prove they can mitigate any cybersecurity and privacy risks posed by these systems, and that the applicant has a plan to address any civil liberties-related complaints that could arise.

While the guidance does not mention any country by name, concerns have been raised around the security of Chinese drones in recent months. A provision in the House-passed 2021 National Defense Authorization Act would ban federal procurement or use of certain foreign-made drones, including those from China, due to potential national security threats.

Chinese technology group Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), which produces a large percentage of the world’s drones, has come under heavy scrutiny by lawmakers, though the company has pushed back strongly against concerns that it may share data with the Chinese government.

“We take seriously concerns about the use of foreign-made UAS and the potential for related data compromise,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement Thursday. “It is paramount that funding recipients take effective measures to safeguard sensitive information and the public’s privacy and civil liberties while operating these systems in a safe and secure manner.”