Chinese cars espionage risk in France and Europe, Digi Mart USA News (France and Europe): Chinese cars, which are increasingly common in France and across Europe, are causing concern in the intelligence community, with specific warnings being raised. About a month ago, near Oslo Airport in Norway, Norwegian military personnel taking part in an exercise were filmed without their knowledge.
Their movements, actions and locations were all recorded by two Chinese cars rented for reservists taking part in the operation. One of the reservists found the videos by chance while tapping the vehicle’s screen.
“We were very surprised by the number of videos that had been recorded. You could even see the access codes we used to enter our military base.
With these images, you can understand very well how the army operates,” said reservist Fredrik Andre Blanck.
Norwegian authorities declined to say whether the incident was an espionage operation orchestrated by China. Given these risks, several countries already bar Chinese cars from their sensitive sites, including the United Kingdom, Belgium and Israel, as well as a U.S.
military base in Japan. Chinese electric vehicles have the technological means to collect data.
A demonstration on a vehicle equipped with an array of cameras and microphones showed how the car can record its surroundings, including views of the area around it and the interior. The vehicle is also connected to a 4G network, much like a mobile phone, which could allow information such as GPS routes, videos and conversations to be transmitted.
Cybersecurity expert Louis Flamion of NVISO said the connection could be used to install spyware remotely.
Contacted by franceinfo, the two main Chinese manufacturers acknowledged that data recording is possible on their cars but said the data is not transmitted outside the vehicle. French Member of the European Parliament François Kalfon of the Socialist Party is not convinced and has written to the French Prime Minister’s office asking for Chinese vehicles to be barred from sensitive sites, citing a provision of Chinese law.
“All Chinese manufacturers are obliged to cooperate with the Chinese defense system. It is madness to let these cars into security-sensitive areas,” he said.
The French armed forces’ general staff, contacted by franceinfo, acknowledged that the issue is being taken very seriously and promised directives that could lead to access restrictions. China has not issued an official response.
However, Tesla cars, which are American, are already banned from several sensitive sites in China, showing that Chinese authorities understand that connected vehicles can be used for espionage.
