The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced the recipients of China's "Auto Privacy Protection" mark during the 2024 China Automotive Software Conference, recognizing Tesla as the sole foreign automaker among the first batch of companies to receive this certification.
Data security in electric vehicles (EVs) has been a growing concern. In April 2024, CAAM and the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (known as CNCERT/CC) issued a detailed report of four major automotive data processing security requirements. Tesla, along with five other manufacturers and a total of 76 vehicle models, met these standards, making Tesla the only foreign automaker in compliance.
Tesla's Shanghai-made vehicles adhere to China's standards, including anonymization of exterior data like facial information, a default setting to not collect cabin data, local processing of in-cabin data, and clear notifications regarding personal information handling.
Other automakers, including BYD, Li Auto, Lotus of Geely, Hozon, and NIO, were also awarded the privacy protection mark.
Bingfeng Fu, CAAM's EVP and secretary general, emphasized that the industry's future depends on integrating hardware and software while fostering independent innovation and reinforcing autonomous software development for secure and controllable products. With the rapid growth of smart EVs, user privacy protection has become a critical focus.
Apart from Tesla, other companies like BYD, Li Auto, NIO, Neta, and Lotus also received the privacy protection mark at the conference.
Tesla previously announced plans to launch its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature in China and Europe by the first quarter of 2025. Since early 2024, rumors have circulated about FSD's potential entry into the Chinese market, though regulatory approval remains pending.
Tesla executives have revealed that the company has applied to Chinese authorities for permission to use some video data for system training, promising that relevant departments will have the right to review these materials.
Sources suggest that the development of Tesla's FSD in China may be slower than expected, as authorities assess its autonomous driving technology, data security, legal compliance, and technical standards. Complications arising from US-China trade tensions, potentially intensified by Trump's likely return to the White House, may further impact Tesla's progress in China.
