Spies on wheels?

Why China & the USA see smart cars as a threat

Tesla's unconventionally designed Cybertruck: the cameras in the high-tech electric cars from the USA are seen as a threat in Beijing.

(Bild: Tesla)

Excitement at the Chinese Ministry of State Security: a foreign car company is suspected of illegally creating maps and stealing state secrets using sensors in its intelligent vehicles. The company, which is cooperating with a local provider, is evading surveillance and hiding its true intentions.

The fear of state security officials is that the data collected by smart - possibly even self-driving - vehicles on China's roads could include information about key authorities or military bases. If leaked, these state secrets would fall into the wrong hands. According to the report, a foreign company has been caught in the act of transferring the data flow of its vehicles in China abroad. Key players in the field of networked vehicles promptly denied this. At the same time, however, measures taken by the US government show that the mistrust displayed in this way is mutual.