Automotive columnist Lorraine Sommerfeld breaks down what your car already knows about you and why the politicians now panicking about Chinese vehicles are decades late to a problem that’s been sitting in every driveway for years.

The harder question isn’t whether Chinese-made cars belong at the US border. It’s whether anyone is holding any carmaker accountable for what your vehicle records, sells, and keeps. Buicks, Volvos, Teslas — a significant portion are already built in China. The ban sounds clean. The reality isn’t.

If you’ve ever plugged your phone into a rental car, hard-braked near a school, or had a conversation about lunch in your own vehicle, this conversation is for you.

Topics: car data privacy, Chinese vehicles, vehicle surveillance, insurance tracking, US border crossing

GUEST: Lorraine Sommerfeld | http://driving.ca

Originally aired on2026-06-22