Senators want US construction firms to detail use of DJI drones in government contracts

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Two U.S senators on Thursday asked several U.S. construction ‍companies to detail the ⁠use of ​Chinese-made DJI drones in government contracts and at sensitive national security facilities, saying the issue raised national security concerns.

Democratic senators Maggie Hassan and Gary Peters in letters to Hensel Phelps, Brasfield & Gorrie, and the Bechtel Corporation sought answers on the companies' relationships with DJI, citing reports about DJI drone use by the government contractors.

“The U.S. government considers ‌the use of Chinese-made drones generally — and DJI drones specifically — a threat to national security and prohibits their use by federal agencies or contractors," the letters said. 

“The use of these types of drones at sensitive and secure facilities creates the potential to provide a pathway for the transfer of important national security-related information ‍to the Chinese government.”

DJI said in a statement its "products have ‌been reviewed by ‍government ‌agencies and independent third parties in past audits and consistently found to be safe and secure."

Hensel Phelps said in a statement ​it takes "security of government data ‍seriously and implements robust ⁠protection of all ⁠drone data to ensure that no data leaves Hensel Phelps' secure systems."

The other two companies did not immediately comment.

The letters noted ‍construction companies routinely use drones at work sites for a number of reasons.

DJI sells more than half of U.S. commercial drones. In September, a U.S. judge rejected a bid by DJI, to be removed from the U.S. Defense Department’s list of companies allegedly working with Beijing’s military. The company faces further restriction as soon as later this month from the Federal Communications Commission.

The senators said earlier this year in a report the General Services Administration Office of ‌the Inspector General found multiple cases of construction contractors using prohibited DJI drones, including ⁠a major contractor that frequently used a DJI drone to take aerial photographs to document construction at an Arizona port of entry.

The senators want the CEOs of the three companies to disclose by Jan. 15 ⁠how many DJI drones they own, whether they have received waivers for use of the drones at government facilities and details on drone data.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)