German Intel Official Warns of Espionage Risk From Connected Cars: Same Standards for Tesla as for All Makers as Bundeswehr Tightens Access
Stephan Kramer, head of the Thuringia state office of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, told the Handelsblatt newspaper that it should not be assumed that "friends do not spy on one another," and that internet-connected vehicles, including Tesla models, could expose sensitive military and government information to foreign intelligence services. The same security standards should apply to Tesla and to all other manufacturers, he said.
His remarks came as the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, tightened rules on connected vehicles entering sensitive military areas. A Defence Ministry spokesperson told a federal press conference that the new rules were not a blanket ban aimed at any one brand or country, and that what mattered was a vehicle's ability to collect information through its sensors; asked whether American vehicles such as Teslas could face similar treatment, the spokesperson confirmed that the rules applied to them as well, with local security officers deciding where connected vehicles may park or drive.
Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) notes that most new vehicles sold in the country have the technical capability to gather location data, camera footage and sensor readings and transmit them to manufacturers' back-end systems. The Czech armed forces imposed similar restrictions on Chinese vehicles this summer.
Tesla operates a major manufacturing plant near Berlin, giving it a significant industrial presence in Germany.
Source: Handelsblatt
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：特斯拉位于德国柏林近郊的超级工厂（航拍资料图）。照片：Michael Wolf 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Tesla's Gigafactory near Berlin, Germany (aerial file photo). Photo by Michael Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
