this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Intelligence and cybersecurity experts are warning the Liberal government about national security risks posed by allowing Chinese electric vehicles onto Canadian military bases.

Critics and some experts are even calling on Ottawa to ban the cars from Canadian Armed Forces bases and other sensitive sites due to onboard sensors they say could collect and transmit sensitive information to the Chinese government.

Their warning comes after Poland and Israel instituted similar bans on EVs built by Chinese companies like BYD Auto over the past year — and as Conservative politicians in Canada raise the alarm over the threat of so-called “spy cars.”

Dennis Molinaro, a counter-intelligence expert at Ontario Tech University and a former national security analyst, said the federal government should follow the example of Poland and Israel.

“Absolutely, Canada should be doing the same,” he told The Canadian Press. He said a national security law in China that appears to compel private companies to funnel intelligence back to Beijing could make the cars a security risk.

David Shipley, CEO of Beauceron Security, said the risks are high enough that Parliament should at least haul military brass and senior bureaucrats in front of a committee to testify about National Defence’s plans for managing those risks.

“The Chinese sometimes send us a good signal about what the risks are,” Shipley said. “They banned Teslas from their major political events and military bases for the same reason Israel is banning their BYDs.”

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[–] nebula@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 hours ago

Why not do something that'd solve this once and for all like:

  • Forcing the companies to have open source software for transmission unit so it can be vetted what they are transmitting
  • Mandatory requirement to make the network connectivity optional, if someone wants they should be able to just pull the transmission module out. Not everyone wants/likes constant surveillance.

And this should be for all vehicles irrespective of country of origin or make

What about all the American automobile companies doing exactly the same thing?

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 5 points 9 hours ago

So having American cars spy on us is fine?

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 5 points 12 hours ago

Why specifically EVs?

They should ban any electronics from adversarial foreign nations.
They're not gonna because good luck getting any electronics manufactured outside of China, but banning EVs specifically when people have phones and computers and watches and etc, well it seems kind of pointless and arbitrary.

[–] kbal@fedia.io 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I don't know anything specific about how bad the Chinese EVs typically are, but they should definitely ban Teslas.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 2 points 15 hours ago

AFAIK the BYD cars are basically the Chinese version of Teslas - bristling with cameras and internet and computer.

I'd drive a Chinese car but not something like that.

[–] Gunner_Marc@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Other than justified hatred of Musk, why should Tesla cars be banned?

Remember that Musk won’t care, but the employees will. As well as Tesla customers that require the company to continue.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 hours ago

OH Musk well care, do you think his net worth is because he has the money in his pocket? It's tied to mostly to Tesla stock price.

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I miss the days when cars were affordable transportation. Now they are surveillance devices that can deliver undesirables to concentration camps or assasinate anyone with plausible deniability.

I want an EV with 1970's features. Like this Porsche 911, but no OTA updates possible. It should be illegal.

No android. No gps. No cameras. No OTA updates. No telemetry. It's not an electronic leash, it's a noose.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 16 hours ago

The NorTel remembers.

[–] markz@suppo.fi 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

About every car is a spy car these days (and not in the good way)

[–] SGforce@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago

Do they realise every Tesla is loaded with cameras?

[–] dominic.borcea@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

Oh yeah, any NATO member who does not limit the outflow of critical military information to China should be treated as a pariah by other member states, it is a grave security risk.

[–] maplesaga@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

The US will be at war with China soon enough, and the government will force a ban. Because the US no longer buys US debt, so war will be inevitable.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This racist troll really should be banned from here, all he does is just spread propaganda about China.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 hours ago

They're few in number, but they're very dedicated trolls.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

You will never persuade prople to not support chinese ev. Keep losing your time