Chinese officials say the data
will be used for analytics to improve public safety
The centre is registered as a non-profit but is tightly aligned with and
funded by the government.
“To speak bluntly, the government doesn’t need to surveil through a
platform like ours,” Ding said.
Many vehicles in the US, Europe and Japan already transmit position
information back to automakers
They then feed it to tracking apps, maps that pinpoint nearby amenities
etc, but the data stops there.
Kim Jong-un meets China's
President Xi Jinping and hold talks in Beijing
Government or law enforcement agencies would generally only be able to
access vehicle data during a criminal investigation.
Automakers initially resisted sharing information then the government
made transmitting data a prerequisite for getting incentives.
“They gave you dozens of reasons why they can’t give you the data,” said
an anonymous government consultant who helped evaluate the policy.
“Then we offer the incentives. Then they want to give us the data because
it’s part of their profit.”
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Volkswagen Group China chief executive Jochem Heizmann said he could not
guarantee the data would not be used for government surveillance.
However, he stressed that Volkswagen keeps personal data, like the
driver’s identity, secure within its own systems.
“It includes the location of the car, yes, but not who is sitting in it,”
he said, adding that cars won’t reveal more information than smart phones
already do.
“There is not a principle difference between sitting in a car and being
in a shopping mall and having a smart phone with you.”