What are Pirelli’s smart tires protected by golden power?
Pirelli tires collect data that is too sensitive to end up in Chinese hands. In a nutshell, this is the reason that prompted the Italian executive to provide specific provisions for the protection of the strategic asset of the Cyber Tire sensors
As Start has been reporting for days, the Italian government has exercised golden power over Pirelli in the context of the renewal of the shareholders' agreement on the governance of the company between the Chinese of Sinochem (37%) and Camfin (14.1%). The decision includes specific provisions for the protection of the strategic asset consisting of Cyber sensors to be installed in the tires to collect an enormous amount of information while the vehicle is in motion. But let's go in order.
CYBER TIRE TECHNOLOGY
The executive aims to protect the Cyber Tire technology, the Pirelli system which provides sensorized tires capable of collecting data while the vehicle is in motion to communicate them in real time to the car's on-board computer.
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The data flow originating from the sensors is processed by software created by Pirelli and integrated into the car's electronics. Some information is displayed on the dashboard and central display, others are used by the vehicle's electronic systems to calibrate warning messages based on the specific characteristics of the tire and also its condition.
And then of course this baggage of constantly updated information allows you to view the "identity card" of the tire fitted at any time: model, seasonal type, prescribed pressure, load index and speed code as well as information on use (temperature and pressure) to understand if they are wearing out or if they are under stress and when to change it.
PIRELLI TIRES TOO SMART TO END UP WITH THE CHINESE
As the government note also underlined, “these sensors are able to collect vehicle data concerning, among other things, road structures, geolocation and the state of the infrastructures. The information collected in this way can be transmitted to cloud processing systems and super computers for the creation, using artificial intelligence, of complex digital models that can be used in cutting-edge systems such as smart cities and digital twins".
Or, to put it more clearly, and therefore in the words of Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Stasera Italia on Rete4: «The State protects data that cannot be made available to foreigners, in this case Chinese. It is not a hostile act, but one of prudence and protection of the national interest"
Indeed, there is fear that the information collected by Pirelli's smart tyres, relating not only to road structures, but also to geolocation and the state of infrastructure, could end up in the hands of governments that in the past have not distinguished themselves for transparency and collaboration. It seems in some ways a re-edition of what was seen with 5G and the mistrust on the Chinese app TikTok. But this time there is an Italian jewel at stake.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cosa-sono-gli-pneumatici-intelligenti-di-pirelli-protetti-dal-golden-power/ on Sun, 25 Jun 2023 05:39:59 +0000.