Ryze Tello

Ryze collaborated with fellow China-based drone maker DJI to create this budget consumer drone and says they may share users' personal information with DJI. Unfortunately, DJI has a history of not being good when it comes to privacy and security. Researchers raised concerns in 2020 about vulnerabilities in the Android app that control some DJI consumer drones and reportedly collect large amounts of personal data. If that data were leaked, they warned, it could then be exploited by the Chinese government. Currently, many government entities, including the United States military and the Dutch Ministry of Defense ban the drones, while it seems the FBI and Dutch police still purchase these drones. It all seems quite messy and rather scary.

Reading the Ryze privacy policy does raise some flags for us, as they do seem to collect a good deal of personal information and didn't seem to us to be transparent about whether they sell it. They say they collect personal information on users when they upload or share photos or videos. That sounds pretty creepy. They do say they ask for consent to send marketing communications, which is good. So, what is the worst that could happen with this little, affordable toy drone? Well, hopefully not too much, but their partnership with questionable drone maker DJI raise enough flags that we have concerns. For around $100 dollars, this drone is much more accessible to most first-time drone buyers than the more expensive and much more private and secure Parrot drones. So, we'll just warn users to be careful with their drone. And please, don't use it to follow around your little brother all day. That could get annoying.