Modern cars are actually driving computers. Cameras, radars, ultrasound sensors, LiDARs and GPS systems not only aid in parking or autonomous driving, but constantly collect data about the surroundings. This information includes an image of streets, buildings, critical infrastructure as well as driving style, location and driver behaviour. In the case of vehicles connected to the cloud, these data shall be transmitted and processed remotely.
In Western countries, there has been a debate for respective years on who and what principles have access to them. The Chinese producers are peculiarly controversial, where, according to local law, companies are obliged to cooperate with the state apparatus. This means that data collected by vehicles abroad secretly goes to Beijing. This is not just about the privacy of drivers, but about the safety of states: mapping of military routes, bases, ports and power stations. The threat does not should be limited to passive collection of information. Cybersecurity experts point out that "over-the-air" updates and distant management of systems theoretically let interference in its operation. In the utmost scenario, mass immobilisation of vehicles or their failures could paralyze traffic in cities or on key transport routes.
It is this aspect that makes the subject cease to be a purely marketplace curiosity and becomes a question of national security. It is no accident that the military and public administration in respective NATO countries imposed restrictions on the usage of Chinese cars in delicate areas. akin steps were taken earlier on telecommunications equipment and drones. The paradox is that China itself applies very restrictive rules on the data generated by cars in its territory, limiting their export and access to abroad companies. Europe so faces a dilemma: how to reconcile marketplace openness with the protection of strategical interests. The answer does not should be a ban, but firm regulation – the work to store data locally, code and infrastructure audits and clear rules of maker responsibility.