Agitators (@Agitators)

#Privacy, #Security, #Identification, #EVs US calls Chinese EVs a possible security threat Asia Times ^ https://asiatimes.com/2024/02/us-calls-chinese-evs-a-posssible-security-threat/ The Biden administration has warned that Chinese electric vehicles can pose a national security threat to the United States as they can collect huge amounts of personal information and may send it overseas. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during an Atlantic Council fireside chat on Tuesday that the US should think deeply about whether it wants all the data collected by electric and autonomous vehicles to be sent to China. She said the information could be about the driver, the location of the vehicle and the surroundings of the vehicle. Raimondo’s comments came after Bloomberg reported last week that the White House is preparing an executive order to prevent foreign adversaries from accessing “highly sensitive” individual data. A Commerce Department official said the commerce chief’s comments were unrelated to the executive order. The official said Raimondo is increasingly focused on new technology areas from a national security perspective. Chinese columnist Ruan Jiaqi on Wednesday criticized Raimondo, accusing her of maliciously defaming China’s EV makers. Ruan said EVs made by Chinese firms such as BYD have already received strong market responses in Europe and Latin America but not actually entered the US market due to an additional 25% tariff imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese autos in 2019. Citing a previous comment from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Ruan said the United States’ protectionism may have violated the World Trade Organization’s most-favored-nation principle and national treatment principle. She said the US should abide by WTO rules, uphold the trade order to ensure fair competition and provide a fair, just and nondiscriminatory business environment for foreign companies. ... According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) produced in China rose 35.8% to 9.59 million units last year from 2022 while those sold in the country increased 37.9% to 9.5 million units. The National Passenger Car Information Exchange Association said China exported 1.2 million units of NEVs, 38% of which were shipped to Europe last year. It said Belgium, the United Kingdom, Slovenia and France were among the top destinations of Chinese NEVs.