The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) has warned that smart features built into modern cars, such as microphones, cameras and GPS trackers, could be used by hostile states to spy on drivers.
The agency called for “awareness of espionage risks around modern vehicles”, including microphones that can be switched on remotely to listen to conversations. It did not mention an individual country, but the warning will add to concerns around a recent boom in Chinese car imports into the UK.
Increasingly smart vehicles
In a translated document released on Wednesday, the AIVD said cars were becoming “increasingly smart” with digital systems that collected data and connected to the internet.
“On the one hand this offers practical benefits, but on the other hand these systems collect a great deal of data about occupants, the vehicle itself, and about objects and people in the vicinity. Various parties, including state actors, can gain access to this data,” it added.
The alert follows reports last year that British defence firms working for the UK government had cautioned staff against connecting or pairing their phones with Chinese-made electric cars, owing to fears that Beijing could extract sensitive data from the devices.
Chinese imports surge
Chinese-owned brands now account for 15% of all new cars registered in the UK, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, almost 175,000 vehicles in the first half of 2026 and more than double the same period last year.
Models by MG, BYD and Jaecoo, whose parent company Chery is part-owned by the Chinese state, have led the surge, popular for their low price and in-car technology. The Jaecoo 7 was the UK’s bestselling car in March.
MPs have raised concerns that China’s national intelligence law requires its companies to assist the state’s intelligence services when requested.
Security measures and warnings
The UK Ministry of Defence has said it is working with other government departments “to understand and mitigate any potential threats to national security” from vehicles. This year, the MoD reportedly banned cars with Chinese parts from sensitive military sites, including RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire and the Dorset headquarters of Britain’s maritime special forces, the SBS.
The AIVD said it was “technically possible to activate” microphones and cameras remotely in some cars, allowing malicious actors to “eavesdrop on conversations” and “make recordings in and around the vehicle”.
The agency added that drivers should “not hold confidential conversations in or around the vehicle”, or “use a vehicle with an external camera when travelling to a sensitive location”. It also said connecting phones and other devices, either via Bluetooth, wifi or charging systems could allow malicious actors to “extract data from connected devices via the vehicle”.
The AIVD suggested systems such as GPS navigation systems, telematics modules and charging stations could all be used to gather and send data about the car and drivers’ whereabouts elsewhere.
On Wednesday, MI5 issued a rare public warning to UK universities to stop working with the China General Technology Research Institute, which it said was being used as a front by Beijing’s intelligence service to pay for research by UK academics and steal the secrets of hi-tech projects. The Chinese embassy in London issued a strongly worded rebuttal, describing the accusations as “imaginary and purely fabricated”.
