Intelligence and cybersecurity experts are warning the Liberal government about national security risks posed by allowing Chinese electric vehicles onto Canadian military bases.

Critics and some experts are even calling on Ottawa to ban the cars from Canadian Armed Forces bases and other sensitive sites due to onboard sensors they say could collect and transmit sensitive information to the Chinese government.

Their warning comes after Poland and Israel instituted similar bans on EVs built by Chinese companies like BYD Auto over the past year — and as Conservative politicians in Canada raise the alarm over the threat of so-called “spy cars.”

Dennis Molinaro, a counter-intelligence expert at Ontario Tech University and a former national security analyst, said the federal government should follow the example of Poland and Israel.

“Absolutely, Canada should be doing the same,” he told The Canadian Press. He said a national security law in China that appears to compel private companies to funnel intelligence back to Beijing could make the cars a security risk.

David Shipley, CEO of Beauceron Security, said the risks are high enough that Parliament should at least haul military brass and senior bureaucrats in front of a committee to testify about National Defence’s plans for managing those risks.

“The Chinese sometimes send us a good signal about what the risks are,” Shipley said. “They banned Teslas from their major political events and military bases for the same reason Israel is banning their BYDs.”

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[–] 1 point 7 months ago

But Teslas capturing video 24/7 for US servers is ok.

Just ban OTA car connectivity.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    I want a Chinese EV. How do I get one.

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  • 23 comments in c/canada@lemmy.ca view that post
    [–] 22 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I don't know anything specific about how bad the Chinese EVs typically are, but they should definitely ban Teslas.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    AFAIK the BYD cars are basically the Chinese version of Teslas - bristling with cameras and internet and computer.

    I'd drive a Chinese car but not something like that.

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  • [–] -4 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Other than justified hatred of Musk, why should Tesla cars be banned?

    Remember that Musk won’t care, but the employees will. As well as Tesla customers that require the company to continue.

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  • [–] 15 points 7 months ago

    Why not do something that'd solve this once and for all like:

    • Forcing the companies to have open source software for transmission unit so it can be vetted what they are transmitting
    • Mandatory requirement to make the network connectivity optional, if someone wants they should be able to just pull the transmission module out. Not everyone wants/likes constant surveillance.

    And this should be for all vehicles irrespective of country of origin or make

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago

    So having American cars spy on us is fine?

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Force all manufacturers to pass privacy restrictions, regardless of the source of a vehicle. None of them should just be able to slurp up information and resell it, period.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    Exactly. As far as I am concerned any and all sensor data remains disconnected and in the.vehicle. don't we have GPS on our phones and the rest of the entertainment? I don't understand why they need to transmit every single engine cycle and wheel turn.

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago

    About every car is a spy car these days (and not in the good way)

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    What about all the American automobile companies doing exactly the same thing?

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago

    Do they realise every Tesla is loaded with cameras?

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Why specifically EVs?

    They should ban any electronics from adversarial foreign nations.
    They're not gonna because good luck getting any electronics manufactured outside of China, but banning EVs specifically when people have phones and computers and watches and etc, well it seems kind of pointless and arbitrary.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    Cause the ship has sailed on other electronics. EVs are a new stream of products that can be used to propagandize against China. There's an extra incentive to do so because these EVs are going to materially improve people's lives because they'll save significant chunk of money in the current cost of living crisis. Guess how that'll affect people's opinions of China. And that's a problem for pro-US interests.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    Oh yeah, any NATO member who does not limit the outflow of critical military information to China should be treated as a pariah by other member states, it is a grave security risk.

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  • [+] 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    The NorTel remembers.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago*

    The US will be at war with China soon enough, and the government will force a ban. Because the US no longer buys US debt, so war will be inevitable.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    You will never persuade prople to not support chinese ev. Keep losing your time

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