Drone News: Public Safety Fights Drone Ban, DJI Ends Sync, Mavic 3 Parachute, Remote ID, & DJI Air 4

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 6 stories for you
this week: DJI Ends Sync, AVSS Parachute for Mavic 3 Enterprise,
GAO report on remote ID, University of Michigan sued for airspace
rules, DJI Air 4 Leaks, and Public Safety responds to Stefanik
proposed bills.





First up, let's talk a pretty big story that happened at the end
of last week after we published news update: DJI has ended their
“Sync Flight Data” function as of this week. If you’re unfamiliar
with it, this feature allows flight records to be synced to the
DJI cloud and imported into other apps such as AirData UAV or
Aloft Air Control.  AirData and Air Control have posted
information on workarounds, with AirData utilizing their app to
synch data from the drone, and Aloft allowing for manual uploads
of flight logs.  This move by DJI is only applicable in the
United States and is likely a response to repeated accusation
that the data is made available to the Chinese government. With
the end of the program, law makers will now need to find new
excuses to try to ban DJI. For more info, check out the links
below. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a
report this week about the implementation of remote ID. The GAO
found that while RID is now mandatory, the FAA has not spent time
educating law enforcement on the technology, with many
departments reporting they knew nothing about it. The study also
looked at law enforcement access to RID and aircraft
registration, and the GAO noted that there is not currently an
interface allowing law enforcement to access registration
information. The report also mentions network remote ID
technologies as a necessary solution to help law enforcement to
"access real-time information needed to track and investigate
unauthorized drone activity." . The report also stated that
“Stakeholders representing a commercial drone group said that
there is a general lack of willingness by industry to develop
network-based Remote ID”. The GAO issued 3 recommendations to the
FAA; develop resources to assist state, tribal, and local LE to
use remote ID; develop a plan and timeline for a remote ID
interface; identify a path forward for how to provide real-time,
networked data about the location and status of drones. Note that
Network Remote ID is a topic of discussion in the new FAA
Reauthorization Act. We’ll keep you updated if we see more.
Fourth up, we have a lawsuit from the Michigan Coalition of Drone
Operators against the University of Michigan. The lawsuit claims
that the University has rules attempting to govern airspace above
the campus and that these rules violate state and federal
laws.  We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out but
good on the Michigan Coalition for fighting for drone operators
and their unencumbered access to the airspace. Hopefully this
sends a message to other organizations trying to illegally
restrict airspace access, sadly lots of universities are in this
bag. Air 4 Leaks??? Lastly, 3 first responders associations have
joined hands and published opposition to the DFR Act and the
Countering CCP Drones Act. Drone Responders, the Law Enforcement
Drone Association (LEDA), and the Airborne Public Safety
Association (APSA) have issued a joint press release in
opposition to Representative Stefanik's proposals.