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<\/p>\nTell us about your experience. <\/p>\n
Electric vehicle maker BYD removed any reference to “China” and “surveillance” from its Australian privacy policy, just days after questions from Four Corners.<\/p>\n
The original policy gave the company almost unlimited powers to collect data on its Australian vehicle owners and broad discretion over how it could disclose it.<\/p>\n
It said the data could be gathered “in connection with suspected illegal or improper activities” and that this could be done through “surveillance activities”.<\/p>\n
“This gives some highly concerning indications about the potential data practices of the company,” said UNSW’s Katharine Kemp, an expert in privacy law and how it relates to connected vehicles.<\/p>\n
The policy named China as one of 16 countries where Australians’ data could be sent.<\/p>\n
BYD, which is challenging Toyota for the title of Australia’s top car brand, has been selling vehicles here since 2022.<\/p>\n
It is on track to sell about 100,000 cars in Australia this year, almost double its 2025 sales.<\/p>\n
When Four Corners asked about its privacy policy, BYD replied two days later, saying it had “undergone a review and been updated”.<\/p>\n
All references to China were gone, along with any mention of surveillance.<\/p>\n
The new policy was uploaded to BYD’s Australian website just an hour and sixteen minutes before the company sent it to Four Corners.<\/p>\n
Confusingly, the website said its new policy no longer applied to vehicles and directed users to a separate document on its app.<\/p>\n
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Katharine Kemp said the wording raised concerns about BYD’s potential data practices. (Four Corners: Ron Foley)<\/p>\n
Both policies say the data collected from Australian vehicles is stored in Australia.<\/p>\n
While all references to China have been removed, nothing stops it from transferring data overseas, including to China.<\/p>\n
“Should we need to transfer your personal data to other countries \u2026 we will comply with applicable data protection laws regarding cross-border data transfers,” the new policy says.<\/p>\n
The Australian Privacy Act allows for data to be transferred to China.<\/p>\n
BYD said Chinese authorities had no access to the data of Australians.<\/p>\n
“We haven’t and would not transfer any data of Australians to the Chinese authorities,” it said.<\/p>\n
This is despite China’s national security laws obligating companies to co-operate with authorities if requested.<\/p>\n
BYD’s new policy begins with the company saying it values and “respect our customer’s privacy”.<\/p>\n
But privacy expert Katharine Kemp said that didn’t mean much.<\/p>\n
“So many privacy policies that don’t provide good privacy protections start with exactly those words, and I would never pay any attention to them,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s privacy fluff. It’s nothing.”<\/p>\n
Ms Kemp said she could not remember reading a connected car privacy policy that “consistently meets requirements of fairness and reasonableness”.<\/p>\n
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