Fears China can spy on us through their electric cars
BRITISH spooks are probing Beijing’s ability to spy on UK citizens through Chinesemade electric cars.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed that a top-level review is under way into whether hostile states could use the vehicles (EVs) as intelligencegathering devices.
Speaking at an event in central London, he said officials at the National Cyber Security Centre were working with ministers and intelligence agency GCHQ.
The electric car probe mirrors an investigation announced by Joe Biden into whether the vehicles can be used to hoover up sensitive data about people and infrastructure.
Tory MP Tim Loughton, who sits on the Commons home affairs select committee and was one of nine MPs sanctioned by China for criticising the country’s Communist regime, said: ‘It is good to see the Government waking up at last to the very real threat that China poses to security [and] the daily lives of everyday people.
‘Chinese-made cars have effectively become mobile computers able to connect to the internet, transfer data to Beijing or be operated by an outside body.
‘We all need to be wise to this and stop becoming Beijing junkies for cheap technology.’
China is the world’s biggest producer of electric cars and there are fears that its cheaper models could flood US, UK and European roads.
The revelation came after security minister Tom Tugendhat said this week that some EVs could ‘be easily turned into mobile intelligence gathering platforms’.
Asked whether he agreed with the remarks, Mr Dowden said: ‘I think the security minister raises a very important point and that is something we’re actively looking at.
‘It’s important that we put security in at the beginning in the design and don’t tack it on to the end.’
Alicia Kearns, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said: ‘There are long-standing concerns about cellular IOT modules [connectivity devices] or SIM cards which enable cars to be tracked and potentially listened to.’
Concerns over EVs come after ministers moved to ban Huawei technology from all 5G public networks by the end of 2027.
Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: ‘What we need is action to prevent the import of products which threaten national security.’
CHINA is not just any country. It is the ultimate surveillance state, obsessively watching its own citizens and aggressively spying on the rest of the world.
The Communist regime’s plan for global domination involves waging a constant and secret war against the West.
It is also the world’s largest producer of electric cars. And while it sounds like the plot of some dystopian sci-fi movie, these vehicles might be Beijing’s latest intelligence-gathering weapon.
As we report today, the Government has asked the National Cyber Security Centre to review urgently how these vehicles could be used for malign purposes.
Increasingly motorists are switching to electric vehicles. The fear is that the technology and software built into Chinese models could hoover up vital information about high-profile people and infrastructure, weakening our defences as a result.
At the same time, university chiefs will be hauled in by ministers for a security briefing amid concern that their institutions are too reliant on funding from Chinese students. This leaves them vulnerable to exploitation, such as the stealing of sensitive research.
It is important not to show any weakness. Britain is in an existential struggle with a Chinese dictatorship intent on undermining our economy and democracy.