The Chinese Army has reportedly banned Tesla cars from entering military housing compounds over security concerns due to the onboard cameras built into them.
The military issued an order telling Tesla owners to park their vehicles outside of their property, following concerns that the carmaker is collecting sensitive data with the vehicles’ built-in cameras. Residents of military housing compounds were notified this week, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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Bloomberg reports that images of the military order have been circulated on Chinese social media, while the Wall Street Journal says that the local government is restricting the use of Tesla cars by its military personnel and by people working on state-owned companies in sensitive industries, fearing national security leaks.
Tesla models come fitted with a range of exterior cameras and sensors for driver assist and park assist systems. The Model 3 and Model Y also feature cameras mounted on the rearview mirror, which the company added for when the promised robotaxi feature is enabled.
The internal camera remains disabled for every vehicle unless the owner participates in the company’s so-called ‘Full-Self Driving’ beta phase, where it’s used to monitor if drivers pay sufficient attention to the road. So far, none of the vehicles sold in China featuring an internal camera have it enabled, according to Tesla.
Chinese authorities fear that Teslas can be constantly in record mode, sending sensitive information like location tags and even short videos back to the automaker. The decision came after a government security review of the Tesla’s models.
