China Must Have Autonomous Automakers Licensed To Collect Geographical Data

Apollo RT6 is Baidu's autonomous car that already has a street license in China. (photo: twitter @baidu)

JAKARTA Autonomous car companies that collect information about road conditions, geography and detailed mapping of an area are considered to be dangerous to the security of a country.

Now, the Chinese government has announced that autonomous automakers should apply for licenses to collect geographical data using sensors on their smart vehicles. This highlights Beijing's safety concerns about sophistication that develops from smart car mapping capabilities.

The statement, is a clarification of China's survey laws and mapping, reflecting regulators' efforts to prevent any scenario in which the highly detailed visual data collected by smart cars could fall into the hands of hostile foreign actors.

The rules, which have been in effect since publication, could further complicate local operations for foreign companies like Tesla, which now have to seek partnerships with Chinese companies in terms of data collection and processing.

According to a statement published on Tuesday, August 30, by China's Ministry of Natural Resources, automakers and autonomous driving software developers should apply for a mapping license or ask licensed companies to collect, store, modify, and process geographical data.

The ministry's official newspaper said that the rapid development of the smart and connected vehicle industry in China means "safety underline" should be drawn for "real-time high precision coordinators, high-definition images, and other data support" that are highly dependent.

"Global markets for the smart and connected vehicle industry are projected to reach US$470 billion (Rp 6973 trillion) by 2030," Wan Gang, vice chairman of China's national policy-making advisory body, told a conference in Beijing on Saturday.

Vehicles such as self-driving cars need to collect large amounts of geographical data to create high precision maps that are essential for accurate and secure navigation.

China has so far issued mapping licenses to more than 20 companies including search engine giant Baidu and Tencent-backed mapping company Navinfo.