Chinese-made cars rented for Norwegian military exercise found to have filmed sensitive information

Chinese-made cars were found to have filmed sensitive information during a Norwegian military exercise, raising concerns about security risks.

This included access codes at secure sites as well as the movement of officials, AFP reported.

The military exercise took place at Oslo airport from Sep. 14-18.

The recordings of the sensitive information by the vehicle's cameras were discovered when the soldiers tapped on their screen, and included images of who was getting in and out of the vehicle, the routes that had been taken and the codes used to open the gates and doors to military facilities.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian Home Guard was quoted by AFP as saying, "Yes, soldiers from the Home Guard found videos from the vehicles' sensors stored in their systems."

Rental cars were supplied to the Norwegian army

Norwegian media reported that the recordings came from rental vehicles, of which at least two were Deepal cars, which is made by Chinese state-controlled automaker Changan.

These cars were supplied to the Norwegian army by Hertz Norge, a car rental company that is also indirectly owned by the Chinese auto group Geely.

It is unknown if the recordings were shared with a third party, but the spokesperson did not rule out the possibility.

Norwegian media noted that following the discovery however, the soldiers still continued to use the vehicles until the military exercise concluded due to a lack of alternative options, with the soldiers subsequently deleting the videos.

The military was further quoted as saying that it preferred security procedures tailored for each of its sites, given that the impact of a general ban on Chinese-made vehicles would be disproportionate to the security gained.

Such procedures could include a possible ban on vehicles equipped with cameras and sensors regardless of their origin.

Meanwhile, Hertz Norge, in response to media queries, said:

"Our customers' data is safe with us. No personal data related to our rentals is shared with car manufacturers, our owners or other third parties without explicit legal grounds."

Changan group did not respond to queries.