A small camera cover shows BYD's good intentions for information security

Since the birth of the automobile, safety has been an eternal priority in the development of the automotive industry. With the advancement of technology and the continuous changes in consumer demand, the definition of automobile safety has been constantly enriched.

In the past, when people measured the safety of a car, they mainly looked at several indicators, such as body rigidity, collision energy absorption structure, braking performance, number of airbags, and reliability of active safety systems. Today, with the empowerment of the wave of intelligent networking, the concept of automobile safety continues to expand, and the entire industry has already had more new thoughts on automobile safety, including not only the assisted driving safety that has been on the hot search many times before, but also the in-car privacy and information security that are increasingly receiving attention.

Frequent car data security incidents have caused increasing concerns among users

In recent years, frequent car data security incidents have caused public outcry and made the public pay attention to the importance of privacy and information security in the car. In addition, in the past two years, there have been rumors on the Internet from time to time that the user data of car companies has been hacked by hackers, and some information has even been sold at a marked price, which inevitably makes many users worry.

In particular, in-car cameras make users more worried psychologically. Therefore, how to make users feel more at ease when using cars is a problem that every car company is facing. Xinhua News Agency once commented: "Installing cameras in cars may objectively bring a lot of convenience in ensuring the safety of drivers and vehicles, but no matter how much convenience it brings, it must not be at the cost of arbitrarily giving up personal privacy and information."

Can the in-car camera be turned off? How?

With the improvement of the level of vehicle intelligence, the application rate of in-car cameras in car companies is getting higher and higher, whether it is for taking photos, or for DMS driver monitoring assistance (Driving Monitor System), or for functions such as in-car debris detection. When in-car privacy and information security have attracted widespread attention, cameras may have become a major source of privacy concerns for car owners. So, can the in-car camera be turned off? How to turn it off?

In this context, we learned through a sample survey of different brands and models that there are different ways to turn off in-car cameras on the market, which shows that at present, the industry has not yet reached a consensus on this matter.

It is worth noting here that BYD is currently one of the very few automobile companies that uses in-car camera covers. Domestic BYD models equipped with in-car cameras are all equipped with physical sliding covers to dispel users' concerns about privacy leaks. The dual protection of software + hardware will further enhance information security, making users feel safe in the car.

What is a knowable/perceptible/controllable information security defense system?

BYD's solution for in-car camera privacy protection is not expensive, but the effect is immediate, which is worth learning from other car companies. At the same time, it should be added that based on the research and analysis of some of BYD's related models, we found that this is actually only a small part of BYD's in-depth information security defense system.

BYD's information security defense system covers multiple dimensions from the vehicle to the cloud, which can comprehensively protect users' information security and driving safety. What is even more valuable is that it also allows users to know, feel and control their own data.

First, at the product design and development level, BYD's mobile APP and car system both provide users with privacy statements, informing users in a prominent manner of the processing of personal data and permission access measures, and providing users with a convenient channel for inquiring about their personal information rights, so that users can truly know the data rights they enjoy.

Secondly, provide users with clear and perceptible privacy and security protection through certain physical methods. For example, the in-car camera cover mentioned above belongs to the perceptible category. Users can use this to ensure that information leakage is eliminated from the source.

Finally, BYD provides users with permission management solutions for both mobile APP and car system, and users can choose the corresponding permission management strategy independently. At the same time, the applications and systems developed by BYD all adopt security strategies to prevent self-starting, providing users with product solutions that can be controlled independently.

In the dimension of product attack and defense testing, BYD has improved its own capabilities and product security protection through continuous high-intensity security attack and defense testing, and has won national competition awards many times. For example, BYD won the gold medal in the 2nd China Intelligent Connected Vehicle Information Security Challenge.

In addition, BYD has expressed its willingness and is accepting supervision from regulatory agencies, and is also actively carrying out various data security and compliance certifications. Currently, BYD has obtained security certifications such as R155 (CSMS) and R156 (SUMS) system certifications, and has passed the national information security level protection level 3 certification.

It can be seen that BYD attaches great importance to protecting the privacy of car owners and continuously builds up the information security protection wall, whether in terms of privacy policy or vehicle safety configuration. It can be said that BYD is taking actions to ensure safety from details to the whole, for the sake of user peace of mind.

Final Thoughts

The role of cars in modern human life has gradually evolved from a simple means of transportation to a new intelligent mobile space, which means that people can do more and more things in the car. But it cannot be ignored that the more closely something is connected to human life, the more unimaginable the harm caused by its insecurity. For example, the mental loss or property loss caused by the leakage of private information can be large or small. Therefore, BYD's route for information security system protection is necessary. I hope that BYD can continue to lead the industry and create a higher level of information security defense system.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.