This little drone from French drone maker Parrot comes with 4k HDR video, fancy digital stabilization, a camera with an 180° view, 25-minutes of flight time, and some super smart AI that lets you pick a person to follow and then step back and let the drone do all the following. Fortunately with this drone, you also get improved privacy and security features we've seen lacking in many other consumer drones. Good work Parrot!
What could happen if something goes wrong?
In years past when we reviewed consumer drones, too many of them had poor privacy and security. That's why it's nice to see Parrot’s Anafi drone take real steps to protect users' privacy. Parrot makes their drone with “privacy by design”, which means they do things like only processing relevant data, not collecting much data on users to begin with, and only sharing any personal data to third parties with your express consent. They also encrypt all photos and videos stored on the device’s SD card with strong encryption.
We love to see these strong privacy and security practices and we’re not alone. While the US military has banned the use of DJI drones, Parrot drones are approved for use by the US Department of Defense. This drone costs $700, so you are paying a price to get that privacy and security. What’s the worst that could happen? Well, please don’t use this drone to spy on your neighbors in their backyard, that would be rude. Other than that, we aren’t too worried about what could go wrong with this little drone from Parrot.
Tips to protect yourself
- Protect the phone or tablet you control your drone with from malware
- Use a strong password
- Keep your drone's firmware updated regularly
- Use a VPN
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: Yes
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: No
App: No
Tracks location
Device: Yes
App: Yes
What can be used to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third-party account
Yes
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Name, email, date of birth, phone number
Body related
Social
How does the company use this data?
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?
No known incidents in the last 3 years.
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
ANAFI USA encrypts all photos and videos stored on its SD card, using an AES-XTS algorithm with a 512-bit key length.
Strong password
The drone sets its own secure WiFi network to communicate with the phone/remote controller, and authentication is handled by the strong encryption key.
Security updates
Software and firmware updates happen automatically for the drone and remote controller.
Manages vulnerabilities
Parrot has a bug bounty program and performs regular security audits of Parrot products and suppliers. Security patches are made rapidly available when vulnerabilities are identified.
Privacy policy
Does the product use AI?
Is this AI untrustworthy?
What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?
The software used to control the drone uses AI to identify objects to fly around it or to follow it. Everything is computed on the device of the user and no information is sent to Parrot or third parties.
Is the company transparent about how the AI works?
Does the user have control over the AI features?
Dive Deeper
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The US government grounded DJI — but here are the five drones it just approvedSean Hollister
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Parrot launches Bug Bounty program to keep its drones secureDrone DJ
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FCC commissioner calls for tighter restrictions on DJI dronesGCN
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