China’s top intelligence agency has warned of risks to national security from the fast-growing “low-altitude economy”.
Advertisement
“With the rapid development of the low-altitude economy, some national security risks arising from the sector … warrant attention,” the Ministry of State Security said in a social media post on Sunday.
The ministry said a large amount of sensitive data had been generated during aircraft production and flight, and this had to be managed to prevent tampering, corruption and breaches of security.
It also warned that drones were small, low-cost, made of non-metallic materials, and had high-resolution cameras, making them hard to track and raising the possibility of unauthorised surveillance of sensitive areas.
The low-altitude economy generally refers to activities within airspace below 1,000 metres (3,280 feet).
Advertisement
It includes the use of drones and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft for air taxi and delivery services as well as devices for crop-spraying and disease monitoring.
The aircraft can have a range up to 3km (1.9 miles).