KCPD drones at World Cup 2026: What to know about data risks | Opinion

The Kansas City Police Department plans to deploy its fleet of Chinese-made drones during the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament. Federal agencies have flagged the manufacturer as a potential national security risk.

FULL STORY: Kansas City police drones at World Cup 2026: Data at risk? Pentagon thinks so | Opinion

Here are key takeaways:

• KCPD will use all 34 of its DJI drones during the World Cup, held in Kansas City June 11 to July 19, according to Police Sgt. Phil DiMartino. Nine of them are part of the department’s drone as first responder program.
• DJI accounts for more than half of all U.S. commercial drone sales, but the FCC and the Pentagon have labeled the Chinese-made drones a national security risk. Late last year, the FCC barred the import of new models of foreign-made drones.
• DiMartino said drones are not used for random surveillance, but for emergency calls, search and rescue, situational awareness, scene documentation, tactical deployments and crowd control.
• DJI has denied its drones pose a security risk and sued to challenge the FCC’s ban. Last fall, a court rejected the company’s bid to be removed from a U.S. Department of Defense list of firms allegedly working with Beijing’s military.
• KCPD uses an American-made software platform for its drone operations and says it applies safeguards including limiting external connectivity, controlling data management and using secured law enforcement networks.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.