That's exactly why I don't think this should be framed as “Chinese cars collect data, therefore Chinese cars are uniquely dangerous.” American connected cars collect huge amounts of user and vehicle data too, and the auto industry has already faced serious criticism over how that data is collected, shared and monetized. If the concern is that a foreign government could gain access to sensitive vehicle data, that's a legitimate national-security question. Regulate it. But then create actual rules: what data a car may collect, where it can be stored, who can access it, what can leave the country, what remote functions manufacturers are allowed to have, and what software and hardware must be independently audited. Apply strong privacy rules to American manufacturers too. Otherwise we end up treating corporate collection of Americans' data as normal when an American company does it, while describing data collection itself as espionage when the badge happens to be Chinese. The solution is strong cybersecurity and privacy regulation, not pretending that American connected cars don't collect data.

---