China fears lead Interior Department to limit use of foreign drones

The Interior Department is preparing a new agency policy that would drastically limit the use of unmanned aerial vehicles made overseas, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new policy is due to be formally announced today. The agency worries that information collected by drones could be "valuable to foreign entities, organizations, and governments."
The agency has around 800 drones. According to the Journal, agency officials have admitted that all of them are Chinese-made or contain Chinese parts.
The Interior Department temporarily suspended the use of drones from Chinese companies like DJI, the industry leader, last October. Now the department is making that ban permanent-though it will grant exceptions for natural disasters and other emergencies.
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