When you are driving in your car, are you in a public or private space? As carmakers race to make electric cars into smartphones on wheels, the lines have started blurring.
Internet-connected intelligent cars are on the roads in many countries, with remote car access an increasingly common feature. In some cities in China, driverless taxis are already available. But with convenience follows concerns over who has access to our driving data — and ultimately our cars.
The Biden administration sees Chinese cars and technology as a national security threat that could spy on drivers and as an economic threat, and has moved to ban Chinese connected-car software. Beijing has previously accused the US of using “national security” concerns as an excuse to act against Chinese companies. Indeed, the economic implications of such a ban on software are clear: it would in effect keep Chinese EVs out of the US. Current tariffs on Chinese EVs are easy enough to circumvent by shifting production bases. But given the scale of personal data that is expected to be gathered from connected cars — not just those made in China, but by automakers globally — the latest proposed ban should not be brushed off as just another trade spat. It raises important questions about privacy and safety for drivers around the world.