Researchers drove a NIO ES8 electric SUV deep into a Norwegian underground mine specifically to sever its external connections. The car kept attempting to reach servers, most of them located in China. These findings echo broader concerns about hidden data collection, similar to how a surveillance app was built to covertly target users without their knowledge.
That finding sits at the center of Project Lion Cage, a multi-year study initiated in 2022 by Tor Indstøy, a risk management and threat intelligence executive at Telenor Group. Indstøy purchased the NIO ES8 as a dedicated research platform.
The project arrives as Chinese EV brands expand across European markets with assurances about local data processing. Observed network behavior appears to contradict those assurances.
I’d like to not be spied on. But if forced to choose, I would rather be spied on by a foreign goverment than a domestic one.
We shouldn’t be capitualting to any form of spying either way. In the first place, why is a vehicle phoning home? While I disagree, it’s still somewhat thinly understandable if the CarPlay or Android Auto system is doing it but if not, why?
Maybe it’s because I have an old Mitsubishi from almost a decade ago with a fully offline third party car entertainment system that came with it but it runs perfectly fine without any of this nonsense.
Why not both? You’re only choosing your data broker.
Why? At least with a domestic government you can vote and lobby for data controls. GDPR, etc.