Ring Video Doorbell VS DJI Mini 4 Pro
Verdict DROP IT DROP IT
The Reality The FTC found the opposite was true internally for years. According to the FTC's 2023 complaint, Ring gave employees and contractors -- including hundreds of Ukraine-based third-party contractors -- broad, largely unrestricted access to customers' videos, including footage from bedrooms and children's bedrooms, which employees could view, download, and share at will. Separately, more than 55,000 US customers had their accounts compromised between January 2019 and March 2020 due to Ring's lax security practices, including allowing hackers to take control of cameras. Ring settled with the FTC for $5.8 million in May 2023, agreeing to a 20-year mandated data-security program with regular independent assessments. US regulators reached a different formal conclusion. Under the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress required a national-security review of DJI; when no agency completed it by the December 23, 2025 deadline, the law's automatic consequence triggered -- the FCC was directed to add foreign-produced drones and related components, which covers DJI, to its Covered List as posing an unacceptable national-security risk. In practice, this blocks new FCC equipment authorizations for new DJI drone models going forward, though it does not retroactively ban previously authorized drones already owned by consumers, and the Commerce Department has separately signaled plans for rules that could restrict Chinese drone imports further. DJI has disputed the underlying security characterization throughout this process.
SHORT ANSWER
Ring Video Doorbell: The FTC found Ring employees and contractors had broad, unrestricted access to customers' camera footage -- including bedrooms -- and that over 55,000 US accounts were compromised by hackers, resulting in a $5.8 million settlement and 20 years of mandated oversight.
DJI Mini 4 Pro: DJI has consistently denied its drones pose a security risk, but as of December 2025 the US government formally added foreign-made drones, including DJI's, to the FCC's Covered List as an unacceptable national-security risk, blocking new model authorizations going forward.