From facial recognition to tracking every turn, modern cars have quietly become the ultimate surveillance threat.

Feature-packed Chinese SUVs like the Jaecoo 7 — dubbed the ‘Temu Range Rover’ — are rapidly taking over British roads. But while public scrutiny centers on these cut-price imports, focusing solely on Chinese models misses an important reality: almost all connected cars pose a threat to your privacy. With 95% of cars expected to have an internet connection by 2030, it’s not long until this may affect us all.

So, what’s the true cost of driving a connected car? And is your new Chinese-made SUV really any worse for your privacy than a Western model?

In TechRadar’s coverage of this topic in their article, “The ‘Temu Range Rover’ privacy trap: why it’s not just Chinese cars watching you,” Michael Stokes, Veilant’s SVP of Emerging Technologies, provides his input:

…Yet as Michael Stokes, SVP of Emerging Technologies at Veilant and former CIA officer, told TechRadar: “That does not prove any particular car is spying, and I have seen no public evidence that one is.”

Stokes reiterates that the privacy issue with connected cars is far from just a China problem, arguing that Chinese manufacturers simply add “a second layer” of risk.

While it’s important to keep that in mind when choosing between a UK-made Range Rover, a Tesla, or a Jaecoo 7, the ultimate decision comes down to personal choice: how comfortable are you with your data being collected — and potentially shared with the country where the manufacturer is based?