OSLO, Norway — Norwegian Armed Forces personnel participating in the Home Guard’s (Heimevernet) annual “Exercise Hovedstad” (Sept 14–18, 2026) discovered that commercial rental vehicles automatically recorded and stored sensitive video footage. The captured data included troop movements, facility access points, and security access codes typed into military gates.
The vehicles were procured via First Rent A Car Norway (operator of Hertz Norway), which is under a multi-year NOK 350 million (~$32.8M USD) procurement contract with Norwegian military logistics. Hertz Norway is ownership-linked to Sweden’s Volvo Cars, where China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group retains a ~78.7% controlling stake. At least two of the vehicles involved were electric cars manufactured by Deepal, an EV subsidiary of state-owned Chinese automaker Changan Automobile.
TECHNICAL EVALUATION: VEHICLE TELEMETRY & ESPIONAGE VULNERABILITY 
* Procuring Entity: Norwegian Armed Forces / Oslo and Akershus Home Guard District (HV-02)
* Commercial Fleet Origin: Hertz Norway (First Rent A Car Norway) / Geely Holding Group & Changan Automobile (Deepal EVs)
* Target Exercise: Exercise Hovedstad (“Capital”) — 5,000 Home Guard reservists securing Oslo government centers and Gardermoen Airport
* Sensor Capabilities & Onboard Recording Hardware:
* Optical Array: Multi-camera parking, driver-monitoring, and integrated dashcam system with automatic local loop recording
* Data Points Captured: Personnel identities, transit routes, duration at sensitive military sites, and physical gate pin-pad/keycard entry sequences
* Microphones & Spatial Sensors: Potential active cabin audio logging and digital telemetry from over 200 embedded vehicle sensors
* Operational Security (OPSEC) Concerns:
* Transmission Risk: Uncertainty regarding whether recorded video and sensor telemetry remained exclusively on local storage drives or were uploaded to foreign cloud servers via integrated 4G/5G SIM modems
* Intelligence Mapping: Aggregate video and GPS data could allow foreign intelligence services to map deployment patterns, supply routes, and critical facility entrance protocols
* Military & Corporate Countermeasures:
* Local Data Purge: Participating troops manually deleted accessible onboard media files following the exercise
* Regulatory Stance: Norwegian Armed Forces declined a blanket ban on foreign-manufactured rental cars, citing operational disruption risks and existing physical OPSEC protocols
