Chinese military bans Tesla cars in its complexes over security concerns

The Chinese military has banned Tesla Inc's cars from military complexes and housing compounds because of concerns about sensitive data being collected by cameras built into the vehicles.

The move follows a security review by the Chinese government as per which officials believe that the sensors in Tesla's cars could record visual images of surrounding locations and obtain data on how and when the cars being used as well as personal information of the drivers and their contact lists synced to the phone.

Tesla, like several other automobile manufacturers, uses internal cameras to provide assistance in parking and self-parking functions.

Also read| Elon Musk's Tesla facing another roadblock in form of security malfunction

Earlier, US electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc said Wednesday a hacking incident reported on Tuesday was restricted to a supplier’s production site in Henan province, China, and its Shanghai car factory and showrooms were not affected.

Tesla China said the hacking incident only involved one of its suppliers’ production sites in China’s Henan province and neither its Shanghai car factory nor showrooms were affected.

It also said data from the supplier’s factory was stored locally and there was no security risk mentioned in the hacking incident. It has stopped the cameras in the supplier’s factory from working or linking to the internet.

Chinese regulators have summoned representatives of US electric car giant Tesla after reported technical problems with their vehicles, notably concerning their safety, officials in Beijing said Monday. 

The news comes several months after two recalls of the company's vehicles in China, the world's largest car market. 

"Consumers have cited multiple problems, related to unusual accelerations, batteries catching fire, as well as with the remote update system," the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement. 

"They were asked to strictly conform to Chinese laws and regulations" in order to "guarantee public security" and the "rights and legitimate interests of consumers", the regulator said.

In 2019, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla had said that the internal cameras in the company's cars was “for when we start competing with Uber/Lyft and people allow their car to earn money for them as part of the Tesla shared autonomy fleet.”

“In case someone messes up your car, you can check the video,'' he had added.