It has long been known that Chinese vehicles automatically record metadata – geolocation, codes, speed, footage of people, etc. – yet Forsvarsbygg has hired Chinese vehicles and is using them during exercises. Now, alert soldiers have caught the Chinese red-handed. During an exercise, they discovered that the vehicles were making “recordings”.
The data has been deleted, but has probably been sent to Beijing.
It has been known for many years that China engages in such activities. That is why Huawei was not awarded the contracts for the roll-out of the 5G network. However, the Chinese appear to have good contacts within the telecoms sector and, incredibly, within the Norwegian Armed Forces. Dagens Næringsliv has turned the spotlight on the uncritical use of Chinese products.
In the middle of an exercise, soldiers from the Home Guard discovered that Chinese-owned hire cars were filming and recording videos of them, writes DN.
The cars were hired through the Armed Forces from Hertz, which – via Volvo Cars – is part of the Chinese Geely Group, and were used in the ‘Operation Capital’ exercise in September.
“We were using these cars, and some observant soldiers eventually realised that there were videos stored on them,” says Lieutenant Fredrik Blanck, who took part in the exercise, to DN.
“It shows footage of who gets into the car and who gets out. Where are we driving to? Who are we picking up? How long do we stay at the various locations?” he tells the newspaper.
Security codes used to open gates and doors were also stored by the vehicles. Two other anonymous sources with whom DN has been in contact confirm the story.
At least two of the cars are said to have been of the Chinese brand Deepal. The recordings were deleted from the cars after the exercise, but it is not known whether the data is stored locally only.
Volvo Cars denies that Chinese ownership poses a security risk and states that no data can be shared with Geely without a legal basis.
Denial is standard procedure for Chinese companies.
Some time ago, it emerged that Chinese-manufactured cars in Oslo had a kill switch that could be controlled from Beijing. The Councillor for Transport in Oslo was asked whether he was aware of this. He replied: ‘So what?’
