We’ve all awakened to the fact that our environment is watching us.

It happens in the home, where we are surrounded by Rings and Nests and Alexas, tracking our movements (slow), our room temperatures (cold), our conversations (yikes!).

It happens in our vehicles. Our insurers, for instance, want to know how fast we drive (very), so they can adjust our premiums accordingly.

Or perhaps we are taking advantage of one of the many “safety” apps like Life360 to track our child’s whereabouts. (I do.)

Indeed, we are surrounded by spies, but the context to date has been framed in personal terms.

Have you considered, however, the possibility that some of these devices could unwittingly be turning us into moles, too?

US Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), a retired US Air Force colonel and member of the US National Security Council, thinks so.

In a letter to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator last month, Rep. Pfluger laid out what he called the “national security implications” of autonomous vehicles (AVs). The next generation of autos, Rep. Pfluger says, could very well be Trojan Horses, allowing foreign countries access to all sorts of data and images of highly sensitive areas.

Much like the TikTok app jarred US security officials because of the possibility the personal data it captured could be shared with the Chinese government, AV technology could be harnessed and exploited by adversaries.

If you’ve traveled in the Silicon Valley lately, you almost certainly have seen the stream of test cars, loaded with high-res cameras and sensors, navigating the Bay Area’s streets. These vehicles are capturing and sharing massive streams of images. That information is sent to purpose-built Edge Inference computers capable of handling the 4TB to 5TB of data AVs produce per vehicle per day.   

Imagine, for instance, an employee working for an intelligence-gathering organization such as the Central Intelligence Agency or National Security Agency. That worker’s AV could be turned into a transmitter, beaming out pictures of coworkers’ cars and, perhaps, faces, thus revealing identifications and relationships. Or perhaps even images of secret sites would suddenly become available.

The questions over what policies are appropriate for the US (and for that matter, the West) are still being formulated, as are the parameters for what data foreign-based companies can collect and share abroad. But the paranoia is a two-way street: Reuters last June reported China restricted Tesla vehicles from the site of its annual Chinese Communist Party meetings for the very same reason.

Rep. Pfluger is calling for oversight of Chinese companies testing AVs to head off the potential transfer of critical data offshore, which he says “constitutes a serious national security threat.” It is similar, he says, to Huawei’s infiltration of American infrastructure.  

I can’t imagine why someone other than me would care that my son has stopped at Chipotle for the fifth time this week. But just in case, maybe we’ll hang on to our ancient Honda Pilot a little longer.

Recognizing the NRTL. Speaking of bans on foreign-made technology, we have begun hearing of US companies clearing out their Lenovo computers, which strikes me as a bit underwhelming, unless they also shed all the HPs and Dells that also are made in China.

But we are also hearing that audits are taking place to ensure machinery bears OSHA’s Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory logo. Per OSHA, the NRTL is a certification that ensures certain products meet the requirements of OSHA electrical standards. Remember, CE logos are not accepted for US equipment, and OSHA no longer recognizes UL 94 or UL 796.

In practice, this means some engineers are being required to look outside their processes to individual parts. This includes poring over self-opening doors and motors and circuit breakers, looking for NRTL labels. And certification isn’t cheap: $2,500 per machine, we’ve been told.

In speaking with several fabricators and contract assemblers, the “good” news is this latest certification push doesn’t seem to have taken hold beyond defense contractors. But it is one more thing to be aware of.

Goodbye, 2022. Most of us were probably glad to be done with 2020 and 2021. We at PCEA will miss 2022, a milestone year in our association’s history. The acquisition of UP Media Group, coupled with a broad uptick in business, made this a tremendously successful year. We are thankful to our readers, advertisers and exhibitors, and wish you all a joyful and healthy 2023.

Mike Buetow is president of PCEA; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..