When English-speaking people talk about ‘acting Dutch’ at a dinner party, that is not an invitation to someone’s hotel room. Normally means Going Dutch for Brits and Americans that everyone pays for themselves. Apparently we are not only setting the example at the checkout: the British and American governments are now following the Dutch example when it comes to investigating espionage by EVs from China.
By NOS reports that government services in Great Britain and the United States fear that Chinese electric cars are constantly passing on data to their home countries. That data would end up with Chinese policymakers and be misused. Whether that is the case will have to be determined by the investigation. As the American Secretary of Commerce summarizes: ‘This is about the security of America.’
For the same reason, the Lower House in the Netherlands requested an investigation. All 150 people present voted in favor and so an analysis is now being worked on. If it is proven that the cars are unsafe from a privacy perspective, the government wants to take measures quickly. Area bans could even apply as a consequence.
Are Investigations into Chinese EV Spying Justified?
You can assume that organizations like these governments do not initiate something like this for nothing. However, the decisions to start the investigations are being questioned. For example, opponents of the investigations believe that the US is trying to damage confidence in Chinese EVs. This should benefit the car sales of American brands.
By NO spoke to ethical hacker Daan Keuper about the issue. According to him, it is difficult to determine whether a car is imitating James Bond or not. After all, the cars can easily be modified with updates. Keuper: ‘(Such an update) can of course also ensure that vulnerabilities that were not previously in that car are subsequently introduced.’
According to Keuper, the research also makes little sense due to the large number of electric cars from China. Even if they don’t come across any cars that are eavesdropping, there may still be a number of specific models that are still spying. Whatever the outcome of the investigations will undoubtedly have an impact on the mutual threats of import tariffs.
