Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government is developing a regulatory framework to protect personal data collected by electric vehicles, as the arrival of Chinese-made EVs in the Canadian market draws mounting scrutiny over surveillance risks.
The disclosure came during a parliamentary hearing in which the Conservative Party of Canada’s Shadow Minister for Industry Raquel Dancho pressed Joly on whether she would be comfortable with the Chinese government accessing personal information from the vehicles.
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Data Concerns
The data security question has been a central flashpoint in Canada’s Chinese EV debate, and one that Dancho has raised consistently.
In March, she called the trade deal “frankly incomprehensible” and flagged surveillance risks in Chinese-made connected vehicles.
Later, the shadow labor minister said the Conservative Party was “hearing loud and clear from security experts” that “Chinese electric vehicles have the capability, for all intents and purposes, of being surveillance vehicles.”
The Conservatives have partly based their opposition to the Chinese EV quota on those risks, with party leader Pierre Poilievre pledging to scrap the deal and ban Chinese-connected vehicle software from those sold in Canada.
Experts who testified at the House of Commons Industry Committee have warned that Chinese EVs often use software that can collect camera, microphone, GPS, and phone data — including when the vehicle is off — and that China’s national security laws could compel companies to transmit that data back to Beijing.
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The hearing also highlighted the broader reversal within the Liberal government on Chinese EVs.
Dancho opened the exchange by reading from the government’s own September 2024 Gazette order — which Joly helped impose as Foreign Affairs Minister — stating that “increasing Chinese EV imports are expected to undermine the growth and development of the Canadian EV industry.”
“I’m reading this and thinking that you’ve made a deal with China that directly undermines the Canadian auto industry,” Dancho told Joly. “So I’m deeply concerned about this. I’m trying to figure out why you aren’t."
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Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne — who as Innovation Minister repeatedly pledged that Canada would “never” serve as a backdoor for Chinese EVs into North America — has since traveled to Beijing to promote deeper economic ties with China after the trade deal he helped design was replaced with the current quota.
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Forced Labor
Dancho also raised forced labor during the hearing, quoting Margaret McCuaig-Johnston from the China Strategic Risks Institute, who testified that Canadians do not want to drive vehicles produced under conditions of modern slavery.
The shadow labor minister then pressed Melanie Joly on why she was allowing 49,000 vehicles into the country that may have been partially made with forced labor.
“First and foremost, what we will do is when it comes to forced labour, we will address that through legislation, period,” Joly said, pointing to the Canada Border Services Agency’s enforcement role.
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The forced labor argument has gained traction following reports of labor abuse at BYD’s factory operations in Brazil and Hungary.
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association has warned that Chinese automakers benefit from weak or non-existent labor rights that distort competition.
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With no enforcement
Here is what I want for all cars.
All data and telemetry is by default optional. I do not want my car being a beacon to every cellphone tower in existence. I do not want every wheel turn and engine cycle recorded. Nor do I want how I adjusted the mirrors or the seating adjusted, nor my face, my eyes, my fingerprints, my heart beat. Nothing.
If they say ‘but how can you get updates to software!’ Three ways.
1: give me the link via email and I can download them to a USB stick and install them way that if I want a fully air-gapped car (which I do).
2: have a mechanic install it during routine oil checks and other mechanical maintenance.
3:if I decide to turn on the telemetrics on my car just once for that task and turn it off afterward.
In short, I want the privacy of a pre-2009 car with the safety sensors of the a modern car and the rearward camera and other stuff. That can be done easily. We can have privacy and safety.
If some people want to leave their telemetry on all the time for whatever reason that is their business, not mine.
A yesh, thaht eletric vehikelz wedcyte agaen.
It’s funny how once China is involved, the Government all of a sudden cares about consumer privacy and data protection.
All modern vehicles collect a ton of telemetry through their telemetry units and these companies are being advised by consulting groups to monetize the data.
Hell! Even Israeli intelligence is hacking into these telemetry units because their security is piss poor
But, yeah, now it’s a problem when China might have a backdoor.
Does this mean they’ll also place limits on data collection by swasticars? Or does invasive US spytech get a special pass?
Chinese-made Teslas are already all over Canada’s streets, so they’re clearly doing this to target Chinese brands and not Chinese manufacturing, but it should be something for all cars, EVs and ICEs, regardless of where their brand is from.
hopefully this will cover yankee doodle dandee as well, they even use forced (prison) labour…So making it specific to Chinese EVs would def be short sighted
Of course, Joly would make this far more complex than it need be.
Default on car sales is to opt out of connectivity. Done.
I agree, but even if you opt into connectivity, there should be controls on that data so we need legislation that defines that, auditability, and consequences.
If people actively chose to be ignorant of their privacy, government does not need to intervein.
Open firmware. If it connects to the internet it should be auditable.
Having a 50k vehicle fleet of war drivers is not a good situation.
That would be glorious, but I can’t see it happening, and even if it did, I wouldn’t trust that’s what ended up on the vehicles in a binary.
Thats why you compile and compare!
There’s nothing special about EVs in this regard. Internal combustion vehicles do the same thing.
Key Data Categories Collected:
Location and Movement: GPS data tracks where you drive, parked locations, and frequently visited spots.
Driving Behavior: Sensors record speed, harsh braking, aggressive acceleration, seat belt usage, and steering wheel activity.
Personal Information & Connected Devices: If a phone is connected via Bluetooth, apps or the car’s system can collect call logs, contact lists, and text messages.
In-Cabin Monitoring: Cameras and sensors may track occupant data, including face/eye movements, voice commands, and in some cases, biometric data like heart rate or stress levels.
Vehicle Diagnostics: Data on fuel usage, battery performance, tire pressure, and engine health.
Connected App Usage: Apps accompanying the vehicle collect information on how and when you interact with your vehicle.
All modern cars do this, made in Canada.
How to Limit Data Collection:
Opt-Out: Review and opt out of data sharing programs in your vehicle’s privacy settings or in the connected app (e.g., Kia Connect, Bluelink).
Avoid Syncing: Refuse permission for the vehicle to access your phone’s contacts and text messages. (FFS people, stop linking your phone to rental cars and leaving the info behind)
Disconnect Connected Features: Consider not activating services like OnStar or built-in GPS. GPS is the real problem.
Use Third-Party Privacy Tools: Tools like Privacy4Cars can help you identify and delete personal information stored in a car’s infotainment system, which is particularly useful if you are selling or returning a rental car (check any rental car, no one does this)
Unless I have personally desoldered the modem chip I will not trust any car newer than 2016.
I’m also very concerned about forced labor, except actual and well documented forced labour that’s actually happening in Canada today, weird how scrotty here isn’t concerned about that though…
- UN expert sounds alarm over ‘contemporary forms of slavery’ in Canada https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1140437
- Systemic racial discrimination via discriminatory funding causing “Millennium Scoop” class action certified; long-term reform negotiations ongoing. https://decisions.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/chrt-tcdp/decisions/en/item/521231/index.do?iframe=true
- Crisis fueled by human trafficking linked to resource extraction “man camps”; systemic inaction continues. https://afn.ca/all-news/press-releases/assembly-of-first-nations-afn-releases-2025-progress-report-on-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-mmiwg-calls-for-justice-highlighting-human-trafficking-crisis/#to-top
- Failure to legislate a human right to safe water and diversion of settlement funds from critical services. https://siksikanation.com/carney-government-reaches-new-low-on-first-nation-safe-drinking-water/
- Slavery charges against Canadian mining company settled on the sly https://theconversation.com/slavery-charges-against-canadian-mining-company-settled-on-the-sly-148605
Thanks for raising awareness on forced labour in Canada and sharing the sources! There are plenty on the rest of the world too.
They also destroy the environment (on top of the car polution) Ford, GM and Nissan are one of the worst. There was Greenpeace report a while ago about the Amazon Rainforest, I cannot find the orginal but found a similar https://news.mongabay.com/2012/05/u-s-car-manufacturers-linked-to-amazon-destruction-slave-labor/
Even before EVs were a thing, I was already worried about the cars in Canada collecting and monetizing my data, including things unrelated to the car. I think the worst was Nissan that disclaimed collecting sexual activity data. But every single car company: Ford, Volkswagen, BMW… you name it.
This can be turned off in some brands like Kia.
Exactly, change starts at home as the saying goes. We gotta clean our house first and lead by example. It’s always easy to point fingers at others while ignoring what’s happening here.
