Security fears as it emerges ‘two-thirds of drones used by UK police are made by a Chinese firm blacklisted in the US’

• Police ‘warned they may be leaving themselves vulnerable to interference’
• Taskforce headed by security minister asked to review the drone contracts

Security fears have sparked as it emerged that two-thirds of drones used by UK police are made by a Chinese firm that is blacklisted in the US, reports have said.

Police forces have reportedly been warned by Home Secretary Suella Braverman that they might be leaving themselves vulnerable to Beijing interference by using Chinese technology.

Fraser Sampson, the Home Office-appointed surveillance commissioner, has asked a taskforce headed by security minister Tom Tugendhat to review the drone contracts.

A Home Office source told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The Home Secretary would want the police to ensure all their data is secure and not vulnerable to any interference by a foreign state.

‘She does have concerns about the use of Chinese technology here in the UK, and will continue to work to keep the British people safe.’

Police forces have reportedly been warned by Home Secretary Suella Braverman that they might be leaving themselves vulnerable to Beijing interference by using Chinese technology. Pictured: An officer from Devon & Cornwall Police carries a DJI Inspire 1s drone

Police forces have reportedly been warned by Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) that they might be leaving themselves vulnerable to Beijing interference by using Chinese technology

Mr Sampson added that ‘potential risks’ of the Chinese drones had not properly been addressed by UK police forces and raised questions over ‘due diligence’.

This comes after diplomatic tensions were sparked between the US and China after US warplanes destroyed four suspicious objects – with at least  one believed to be spy balloons from Beijing.

The UK is now also launching a security review after a series of objects after the US military shot down the objects.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the UK is to assess the dangers posed by suspicious flying objects and will reportedly work with the US and other partners to analyse intelligence.

The security review comes as US fighter jets shot down an ‘unidentified object’ over Lake Huron on Sunday – the fourth object to enter US or Canadian airspace in just over a week.

Mr Wallace said: ‘The UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security. This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse.’

One of the world’s biggest drone firms DJI was labelled a national security concern by America in 2020 and blacklisted along with companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military last October.

But according to Freedom of Information data from UK police forces obtained by the Telegraph, 230 of the 337 drones used by 37 police forces across the country are supplied by DJI.

This comes after diplomatic tensions were sparked between the US and China after US warplanes destroyed four suspicious objects. Pictured: A suspected Chinese spy balloon is seen before it was shot down off the coast of Garden City, South Carolina, U.S.

The spy balloon is seen drifting above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, on Saturday – with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it

The Pentagon released photos showing the Navy’s retrieval of a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean

The downing of the balloon sent both figurative and literal waves over the weekend, occurring at the end of a week that saw the craft spotted multiple times during its journey over the continental US, with another balloon seen over Latin America 

Read more: US military recovers key sensors from shot down Chinese spy balloon 

And 11 British forces refused to reveal who supplies their police drones – so the real number could be even higher.

Government officials are understood to be worried about the apps used to fly the drones and how they process captured information, according to the Telegraph.

There are security concerns over how these apps could be used to download sensitive or confidential information.

Experts have also alleged that drones which have attached cameras could take pictures without the user’s authorisation and then be uploaded to the Chinese firm’s servers online.

Former army officer and founder or Drone Defence Richard Gill told the Telegraph that there was an ‘obvious security considering if a massive site is capturing imagery’.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council told the Telegraph that police forces always considered security as part of any deployment, adding: ‘Police take all possible steps to protect and keep secure the data obtained by using drones.’

DJI told the paper that ‘the cyber security of its drones had been audited and tested by multiple US and EU-based firms’. It said it was not collecting data as part of their business and their drones have security features to give users ‘peace of mind’.

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