US launches investigation into Chinese cars that could be used for espionage

The US Presidential Administration has launched an investigation into Chinese cars due to possible safety risks, reports The Washington Post.

Although Chinese cars are not very popular in America, they are gaining popularity in Europe and Asia, which is why the US government is concerned that they have many different sensors that can be used for espionage or other malicious purposes.

President Joe Biden compared modern cars to smartphones. According to him, they, like smartphones, collect and share a lot of data about drivers and their daily trips via the cloud.

“These cars are connected to our phones, to navigation systems, to critical infrastructure, and to the companies that made them. Connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China,” Biden said in a statement. “These vehicles could be remotely accessed or disabled. … Why should connected vehicles from China be allowed to operate in our country without safeguards?”

Most of the vehicles involved in this investigation are electric vehicles.

Earlier, the Pentagon had expressed concerns that Chinese port cranes used in the United States could be used as spy equipment.