On July 28, the Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List after national security agencies warned that networked robots could support surveillance, foreign intelligence collection, or remote manipulation. On Aug. 6, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr defended the broader campaign against Chinese technology as a way to reduce security risks before millions of vulnerable devices become embedded in American life.

The direction is sensible, but Washington is still using the wrong unit of analysis.

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Washington has spent years confronting connected technology by category. Commerce has restricted connected-vehicle hardware and software tied to China and Russia. The FCC has moved against foreign-made drones, routers, robots, and connected power inverters. Each action addresses a real exposure. Intelligence collection can cross all of those product boundaries.

The latest FCC action mainly blocks new equipment authorizations. Previously approved devices remain in homes,........

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