Recently, some car complaints have sparked a discussion about vehicle data security. In the era of smart cars, operators attach great importance to the mining of automobile data. At the same time, the security threat of big data to the personal privacy of car users has also been put on the agenda.
Recently, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued several provisions on the security management of automobile data (draft for comment). This is the first time in China to formulate special regulations for "automotive data security", how to achieve effective real-time control, which is one of the original intentions of this draft for comments to the public.
How data is collected and how it is used is difficult for car users to know
How and how smart cars collect personal information and important driving data is used has been difficult for car users to know. In March this year, Tesla's monitoring of the owner's privacy information through the high-definition camera in the car was controversial; in May, there were zero sports owners who found that the camera in the car could not be operated and closed, and then complained to the regulatory authorities. Not only that, many models on the market are equipped with in-car cameras, claiming that the main role is to monitor driver fatigue driving, provide auxiliary automatic driving monitoring, etc.
In addition, there have been many disputes between car companies over the handling of personal information and privacy data. In February this year, a legal dispute arose between Botai Car Networking, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tencent. The former two jointly claim that Tencent has a monopoly, while Tencent states that the "New Baojun Chelian" app and the "WeChat Notification Assistant" software can collect, store and upload sensitive data such as WeChat contact information and chat information without the explicit authorization of Tencent and users, and there are acts that infringe on user privacy.
The draft for comments brings the use of automotive data into a standardized stage
The reporter noted that the draft for comments has a total of 21 articles, advocating that operators adhere to the principle of in-vehicle processing, the principle of anonymization, the principle of minimum storage period, the principle of application of accuracy range, and the principle of tacit non-collection in the process of handling personal information and important data. It is worth noting that the time point "2021" is specially marked in the draft for comments, which means that relevant policies are expected to be introduced within the year. "The introduction of special regulations will make the use of automotive data enter a standardized stage." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, said.
Highlight 1: Users can work with data
Can users view and use their own car data? In the past, the collection and use of data by automotive OEMs and third-party operators almost skipped user authorization, which may become a thing of the past.
Zheng Guangwei, an expert at China Automobile Research Institute, said that for users, one of the biggest values of the draft for comments is that they can manage sensitive data in their personal cars, ensure the user's right to use vehicle data, and even delete personal data in the car in advance when selling cars.
Highlight 2: High-definition maps have a law to follow
Industry insiders pointed out that in addition to the data collection and security in the car that everyone focuses on, the biggest highlight of the draft for comments is that the compliance use of high-precision maps for vehicles has been clarified, and automobile manufacturers and suppliers can add additional information based on the published navigation electronic maps, provided that enterprises report to the competent authorities to inform the collection, transmission, storage and scope of use of data, and simply uploading data to the Internet will become history, which will have a significant impact on the entire industry.
Highlight 3: Multiple data is managed
Which companies will be affected by this regulation on vehicle data? Article 3 of the Draft for Comments mentions that "operators" as used in the Provisions refers to automobile design, manufacturing and service enterprises or institutions, including automobile manufacturers, parts and software providers, dealers, maintenance agencies, online ride-hailing enterprises, insurance companies, etc.
At present, the operation data of the car charging network, the type of vehicle on the road, the vehicle traffic and other data mastered by some car companies are within the scope of management of this regulation.
Industry: Circumventing information security risks cannot rely entirely on self-awareness
Before the introduction of the draft for comments, the processing of automotive data by all parties in the industry completely relied on "self-awareness". For example, for the previous monitoring problem of the camera in the car, Tesla has admitted and said that it will comply with the laws and regulations of relevant countries. Weilai, Xiaopeng, etc. also stated that the camera in the car was not enabled. There are also car companies that actively improve, such as BYD Dilink by adding a physical slide cover to the camera in the car, so that users can actively choose to block the camera line of sight. Zhiji Automobile said that in order to protect the privacy of consumers, Zhiji promised not to use face ID technology, and now it can only collect user eyebrows, eyelids and other information.
Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, believes that data cannot be collected for the purpose of improving vehicle performance but at the expense of safety. "How to develop intelligent cars under the premise of circumventing information security risks is a problem that enterprises should consider." Text/Photo Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Deng Li
Source: Guangzhou Daily