
Lawmakers in the UK have warned that Chinese electric cars imported to the country to reach net zero targets might enable Beijingto spy on citizens.
According to The Telegraph, the ministers are of the view that technology embedded in electric vehicles (EV) will allow the harvesting ofinformation, including location data, audio recordings and video footage of the users.
“If it is manufactured in a country like China, how certain can you be that it won’t be a vehicle for collecting intel and data? If you have electric vehicles manufactured by countries who are already using technology to spy, why would they not do the same here?," reported The Telegraph citing a lawmaker.
“They are high-risk products. We know that China always thinks in very long terms. So if they were providing a product that could do more than just deliver the consumer’s desire to go from A to B, why would they not be doing it?”
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Earlier, a cross-party group of MPs warned that Britain was poised to cede control of thecritical infrastructureof its car market to Beijing “with all the attendant security risks”.
“It will be used with all of the data that they collect, and that’s how it becomes incredibly valuable and quite dangerous," said another official.
Currently, Germany is the biggest supplier of cars to the UK. However, with the car companies facing quotas for zero-emissions sales from next year ahead of a ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030, China is expected to take over the spot.
Reports state that if car manufacturers fail to hit the numbers, they will have to either pay fines or buy credits from companies that exceed those targets. However, the caveat is thatChinese electric car companies and Chinese-sourced Teslas will be the biggest beneficiaries of it.China is one of the biggest players in the EV market and currently has half of the world's EVs.
Lawmakers are of the view that government should take its previous stance when itbanned Chinese firm Huawei from UK's 5G networks, due to security concerns.
"These are realistic risks. All we have to do is look at how government tied themselves up with things such as 5G."
(With inputs from agencies)
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