Popular Chinese electric vehicles can listen in on conversations, owners claim

A popular electric vehicle brand sold in Australia has a hidden back door that allows the manufacturer to listen in on conversations, users have claimed.

After witnessing an explosive month showing the terrifying possibilities of technological warfare, the topic of electric vehicles and their potential to be hacked is once again thrust into the global spotlight.

A driver who owns a BYD car, a Chinese electric vehicle brand, has claimed that the software can listen to his conversations.

He explained that the car’s internal SIM card can be called by an outside party, allowing audio from inside the vehicle to be streamed to the caller without the driver’s knowledge.

In the video, the owner dials the car’s SIM number, and while audio from inside the vehicle streams to their phone, there is no visible indication on the car’s touchscreen or digital display that a call is being made.

Even more disturbing is that there seems to be no way to end the call from the vehicle.

The only sign that a call was in progress was the sound dropping, and the problem is said to persist even when the car is turned off.

An article published by carexpert.com in January 2023 also highlighted this issue.

“I was unable to hang up the secret call from the car, even by opening the phone app or pressing the answer/end button on the steering wheel,” the owner said.

“Even turning the phone off allowed a call to be received, so there’s no way I can find that an Australian Atto 3 customer could have privacy in their car if someone was spying on them.”

One user reported receiving multiple calls through the SIM card, suggesting it had been recycled.

“I’ve had four different people somehow call my car… the first time I thought someone had connected to my bluetooth, but after the 4th I assumed they were somehow tapping into my SIM number,” said the user, adding that both parties were confused during the calls.

BYD’s Australian distributor, EVDirect, was quick to respond to the issue.

Managing director Luke Todd claimed they were working with Telstra, the SIM provider, to resolve the issue.

“There’s no risk of exposure to people getting car owner data,” Todd said.

“We anticipate that it will be resolved within 48 hours. All SIM card data and information is stored by Telstra securely.”

Although eSIMs are becoming more common in modern vehicles, this appears to be an isolated issue with BYD in Australia. No other automaker has reported similar concerns when an outside party can call into a vehicle’s SIM card to listen in the cockpit.

Despite the Atto 3 becoming Australia’s third best-selling EV, the brand has hit a few bumps along the way.

BYD had to halt sales to resolve non-compliance with child seat anchorage points and faced delays in securing a five-star local ANCAP safety rating.

Meanwhile, senior motoring journalist Paul Gover told Sky News this week that the Australian government “doesn’t know” what Chinese-made electric vehicles are capable of.

BYD Australia has been contacted for comment.

But no amount of corporate firefighting can erase the skepticism that has been sown, especially in the US, a nation seemingly locked in a decades-long race with China for technological supremacy.

The privacy of American citizens appears to be of paramount importance, at least in cases where personal data is leaked to the “wrong” government.

The broader issue of potential backdoors in privately owned EVs was revisited last week, as details emerged of a US plan to ban Chinese-made EVs over espionage and security concerns national were spread in the press.

Activists have renewed their push to outlaw Chinese electric vehicles in particular, echoing similar campaigns against Chinese-owned social media platforms operating in the country.

“Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking and other internet-connected technologies. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of citizens,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“In an extreme situation, foreign adversaries could shut down or take control of all of their vehicles operating in the United States at the same time.”

“We have already seen ample evidence of this [China] Malware pre-positioned in our critical infrastructure for disruption and sabotage,” added US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

“And with millions of vehicles potentially on the road, each with a lifespan of 10-15 years, the risks of disruption and sabotage increase dramatically.”