Chinese military bans Tesla cars over camera concerns

The Chinese military banned Tesla cars from entering military housing complexes, citing security concerns over the cameras installed on the vehicles, according to sources who saw notices of the directive.

The move comes after a government security review of the company’s vehicles, citing people familiar with the effort, The Wall Street Journal had reported.

Chinese officials found that Tesla car sensors could record visual images of surrounding locations, the report further added.

The order issued by the military advises Tesla owners to park their cars outside of the military property, adding that the ban was notified to residents of military housing this week.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that China’s government was restricting the use of the company’s cars by military personnel military, state-owned enterprises in sensitive industries and key agencies, citing it as a source of national security leaks.

Tesla cars have several small cameras externally to assist with parking and self-driving. Model 3 and Model Y also have cameras embedded in the rearview mirror for driver safety that is disabled by default.

It is not clear whether the measure applied to all such facilities.

Musk has often spoken about the value of data Tesla vehicles can capture that can be used to develop autonomous driving functions. Other automakers are also equipping vehicles with cameras and other sensors that can capture images of objects around the car.

Tesla shares were marginally down in trading before the bell on Friday.