The Department of Commerce on Monday announced it is proposing a rule which would ban the sale or import of connected vehicles containing specific software and hardware produced by China or Russia or with a “sufficient nexus” to them.
The move is aimed at reducing the threat of adversaries breaking into connected cars and collecting sensitive data — including personal information and details about U.S. critical infrastructure — as well as controlling vehicles as they travel on American roads, according to a White House announcement.
The proposed rule, which would also prohibit the import of targeted component technologies, homes in on the hardware or software used in connected vehicle systems which enable their “external connectivity” as well as the technology which allows autonomous driving in some cars, a Commerce Department press release said.
The targeted technologies specifically include those that allow vehicles to communicate with the outside world via telematics control units, Bluetooth, cellular, satellite and Wi-Fi modules, Commerce said. In autonomous vehicles, the technologies involved allow them to move without a driver.
Chinese or Russian manufactured vehicles or components powering connected cars, trucks and buses would be impacted, with the proposed rule only exempting vehicles not used on public roads such as those driven on farms.
The White House announcement particularly focused on how connected vehicles could become a tool for Chinese and Russian hackers to learn about American critical infrastructure.
“Certain hardware and software in connected vehicles enable the capture of information about geographic areas or critical infrastructure, and present opportunities for malicious actors to disrupt the operations of infrastructure or the vehicles themselves,” the announcement said.
“These countries of concern could use critical technologies within our supply chains for surveillance and sabotage to undermine national security,” it added.
The ban on software would take effect for model year 2027 while the hardware ban would not become law until the beginning of model year 2030 — cars released as new models are typically made available in the summer preceding the new model year.
Since most of the car technologies the administration is targeting are made in China as opposed to Russia, it is likely that the latter will not be seriously impacted.
The proposed rule follows a February directive from President Joe Biden that the Commerce Department probe whether cars and car technologies imported from China pose risks to national security. The administration has been investigating the issue since then.
Global auto manufacturers have increasingly come to rely on China for the connected vehicle components the Biden administration is targeting.
“Chinese automakers are seeking to dominate connected vehicle technologies in the United States and globally, posing new threats to our national security, including through our supply chains,” the White House announcement said.
Connected vehicles also have been under the microscope in recent months for how they violate user privacy and allow automakers nearly unfettered access to driver data.
In August, Texas filed a lawsuit against General Motors, alleging that it used drivers’ data in a “false, deceptive, and misleading” manner when it pressured car owners to opt in to products that sold their data to other companies which then sold it to insurers.
While it highlighted the risks connected vehicles pose to America’s critical infrastructure, administration officials on Monday echoed Texas officials by also citing how they impact individual privacy.
“Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a prepared statement.
“It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens,” the statement added.
The new proposed rule is just the latest move by the Biden administration to target China-made cars. In May, Biden ordered a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.
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Suzanne Smalley
is a reporter covering privacy, disinformation and cybersecurity policy for The Record. She was previously a cybersecurity reporter at CyberScoop and Reuters. Earlier in her career Suzanne covered the Boston Police Department for the Boston Globe and two presidential campaign cycles for Newsweek. She lives in Washington with her husband and three children.
