tesla rumored to be banned from Chinese military areas and Family compounds © Web Weibo
The Chinese Communist Party‘s military has issued a ban requiring Tesla owners to park their vehicles outside military-owned areas, a Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified. Residents of military family homes were notified of the ban this week because authorities are concerned that the U.S. electric car maker is collecting sensitive data through built-in cameras in ways it cannot control.
A photo of the notice circulating on Chinese social media states that Tesla-branded cars are equipped with omni-directional cameras and ultrasonic sensors that can “reveal the location of targets” and are therefore prohibited from driving and parking in areas belonging to family homes to ensure the absolute safety of military secrets ……
A Tesla representative in China declined to comment on the military’s move. The Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to a fax sent by Bloomberg.
The Wall Street Journal also cited sources as saying that the Chinese Communist Party will restrict the use of Tesla cars by military personnel, certain government agencies and staff of state-owned enterprises. China is concerned that Tesla cars could be a source of leaks of information related to national security.
Bloomberg reported that Tesla, like many other automakers such as General Motors, uses multiple small cameras placed primarily outside the car to assist in parking and enabling such capabilities as automatic cruise control and self-driving. Most Tesla models also have an in-car camera above the rearview mirror that can be used to find out if the driver is looking at the road, looking down, wearing sunglasses or looking away the entire Time.
Tesla CEO Musk tweeted in April 2019 that the built-in camera is “for when we start competing with Uber/Lyft and people can earn money with their own cars as part of Tesla’s shared autonomous fleet.” Musk also explained: “In case someone messes with your car, you can view the video. Since then, Tesla has been using the car’s built-in cameras to monitor fully autonomous beta testers, or Tesla owners who volunteer to participate in testing driver assistance features.
Earlier this month Musk tweeted that its fully automated driving beta test had been expanded to about 2,000 owners, but Tesla also withdrew beta participation from drivers who were not paying enough attention to road conditions. Musk said the next major release will be available in April.
Concerns about the program also contributed to the military’s ban, a person familiar with the matter said.
After Musk admitted that Tesla uses in-car cameras to monitor owners, Tesla China issued a statement that Tesla’s privacy protection policy complies with China’s laws and regulations, and that there is no violation of users’ personal privacy through in-car cameras in vehicles used by Tesla users. All Tesla user vehicles in the Chinese market do not have in-car cameras turned on and are not involved in FSD Beta testing. Tesla China also stated that Tesla is equipped with the world’s leading network security system to ensure user privacy protection.
California-based Tesla has a super factory near Shanghai that produces the Model 3 and Model Y.
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