<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Domestic violence abusers are turning their victims' cars against them and using the vehicles to carry out "insidious, damaging and dangerous" crimes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant put out a warning about the risks of smart cars – those with an internet connection – today, raising the alarm about how the popular technology is being exploited.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They are essentially computers on wheels today, and we don't want them to become weapons on wheels," she said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/chinese-naval-flotilla-monitored-adf/58f0b14a-c4b8-4dd1-831d-0ee305138651"><strong><span>Chinese naval flotilla could be heading for Australia</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cars have been used by abusers to intimidate, track and harass in a variety of ways, including by locking victims in and out, and setting up geofenced kill switches so vehicles stop running once they leave a certain area.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You can remotely control or lock or start the car, you can prevent an EV, for instance, from being charged," Inman Grant said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These are the types of things we're hearing from domestic frontline workers that are happening to Australian women today.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/smart-cars-tech-based-domestic-violence-abuse-coercive-control/6779e5f3-ac04-43f3-80cc-74dba3cdb844" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The problem with smart cars and geofencing and kill switches is it's a fairly sophisticated use of technology, and a woman might not know what is happening to her; she might think she's running out of gas or running out of power."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also pointed to an example in California that led to new laws that force manufacturers to disable certain connectivity features within two days of receiving a complaint from a victim.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-health-news-flu-season/09c99f35-534f-4b76-8ffc-426c86b4589a"><strong><span>Hit with an unusual spring flu? Turns out you aren't alone</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This isn't actually a new form of weaponisation," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There was a case in San Francisco with Tesla X in 2016 where a man kept threatening a woman to bludgeon her with a metal baseball bat and she came into her car one day and that baseball bat was in the back.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So she went to Tesla to try and figure out what was happening with the telematics and because his name was on the ownership document, they wouldn't turn off the system."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than nine in every 10 cars sold in Australia will have built-in internet connectivity by early next decade.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's not just the convenience of smart cars that has been exploited by domestic violence perpetrators, though, with a wide span of devices ranging from smartwatches to phones, speakers and even app-enabled e-bikes having been used to abuse victims.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/childcare-educator-pay-rise-more-than-268000-aussies-to-receive-an-extra-160-per-week/17350048-fbe4-458e-b8b2-96b3acdfe4c4"><strong><span>More than 268,000 Aussies to receive an extra $160 per week from today</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inman Grant and federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said it was crucial that the companies behind the products acted to ensure they cannot be weaponised.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When there's family or domestic violence, or sexual violence, technology-facilitated abuse can be insidious and damaging and dangerous," Plibersek said, adding that "it is very difficult to legislate as fast as these innovations are occurring".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is very important that companies themselves build this consideration into the design of their products."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, the eSafety commissioner said governments will likely need to act to force manufacturers to prevent their products from being weaponised.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Just like the initial seatbelt had to be voted on by parliaments all over the globe to be embedded, we may need to see a second seatbelt moment for car manufacturers now that these are becoming more like computers," Inman Grant said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available from the</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>at</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/" title="https://www.1800respect.org.au/"><strong><span>1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>