15 April 2024 , 15:13
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Electric cars could be hijacked by hostile states to gather intelligence from people in the UK, a Home Office Minister has warned.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said more work is needed to remove Chinese-made technology in our policing and security services. He said "digital asbestos" was rife across institutions as he was asked about China providing CCTV equipment, drones and body cameras in the UK.
But he added there must also be a focus of looking at the impact of future technology, as well as that which is already integrated into departments and services within the country, warning of "the potential that some electric vehicles could be easily turned into mobile intelligence gathering platforms by hostile states".
In Commons' Home Office questions, Shadow Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said: "The Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner said last year that out policing and security services were technologically vulnerable because of their use of Chinese-made equipment, including CCTV, drones and body cameras. So can the minister say whether the digital asbestos of Chinese-made technology is still not policing and security infrastructure? Yes or no?"
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Mr Tugendhat said the work by the former Commissioner "has been absolutely fantastically important to many of us in making sure - and I approve the term digital asbestos - is got out of our institutions". He went on: "This is something that's ongoing, so it's got out of the most secure sites already, but there are other areas where there is work to do because of course, there were an awful lot of sites, I'm afraid, which bought technology which will now be problematic," he said.
"Of course, it's not just static sites. There is of course, the potential that some electric vehicles could be easily turned into mobile intelligence gathering platforms by hostile states and so it's not simply about looking at the past but also the future."
One example of of controversial tech used in the UK includes Hikvision's CCTV cameras. In July 2021 the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Select Committee said "equipment manufactured by companies such as Hikvision should not be permitted to operate within the UK", after MPs said its cameras were being used in Uyghur camps in Xinjiang.
In January, Kent County Council said it will phases out its CCTV cameras made by the Hikvision. It follows Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, and Tunbridge Wells councils already laying out plans to replace cameras made by the firm.