China has a long history of banning everything from social media apps, websites to illegal transportation of materials. This time, the East Asian country took notice of Elon Musk's Tesla cars.
While the country is the biggest Tesla market globally, the Chinese military believes that Musk's electric vehicles can be used for spying through their built-in cameras. This now sparks a privacy concern among the Chinese personnel.
Why Does the Chinese Military Restrict Tesla EVs?
In a report by Bloomberg, the military released an order for Tesla owners.
An anonymous source knowledgeable in the issue, who chose not to be named, said that the order was concerned with the parking of the electric vehicles outside the premise of the military vicinity.
Later, the military residents grew skeptical of the capabilities of the Tesla cars produced by Elon Musk's company. This is because they thought that automobiles could gather sensitive information using cameras. In line with this, the cameras are said to be built so that they are inconspicuous to be seen.
The news about the Tesla car ban spread across several social media sites in China. The notice read that the cameras, which are structured to be multi-directional, and the ultrasonic sensors installed in the Tesla EVs could reveal locations.
This prompted the Chinese military to make a move to avoid such possibility through imposing restrictions on the cars.
Bloomberg spoke to a Tesla representative based in China, but there was no answer given. Furthermore, the same source asked a representative from the Chinese Defense Ministry, but there was no immediate response after several hours.
Like any other high-end cars, adding small cameras will help the EVs have a comprehensive guide when it comes to functions like self-driving, autopilot, and other features.
As one of the leading pioneers of modern industrial technology, the Tesla vehicle boasts its interior camera located above the rearview mirror. This is mainly used for the detection of the driver's activities.
Read Also: Tesla Plant Reopening Results in Surge of COVID-19 Cases - Is Elon Musk the One to Blame?
Musk's Explanation Why Tesla Cars Have Internal Camera
For Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his tweet way back in 2019 has already explained the need to have the internal camera installed in Tesla EVs. Musk said that his company looks forward to competing with Lyft and Uber in line with the autonomy fleet, Aljazeera reported.
At the time of writing, Musk said that a person could immediately check the video in case someone wants to damage the car. Musk prioritizes the surveillance ability of the cars, which is often overlooked as a "petty' feature.
After Musk announced the monitoring capability of internal cameras, he now summoned beta testers to try the self-driving experiment of Tesla Cars.
Earlier this March, Musk noted in his tweet that Tesla did not give the beta test to those who are reckless in driving even though the beta expansion now occupied around 2,000 Tesla car owners. He continued that the next FSD Beta will happen next month.
The Tesla representative stated that there were no Tesla cars with built-in cameras used for the beta trial in China. However, this was not enough to permit Tesla cars to enter the military locations even when the company has fully complied with China's policies, regulations, and national laws.
In early February, Tesla apologized to China after the video involving a staff member who was blamed for a car's damage circulated. Besides the internal cameras, the Chinese regulators also called out Tesla over its abnormal acceleration and battery fires, which spark safety concerns.
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This article is owned by Tech Times.
Written by Joen Coronel
