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Defense & Security · Europe

Home Guard soldiers find military videos stored in Oslo rental cars

Norwegian Home Guard soldiers found videos stored in rental cars used during a military exercise at Oslo Airport. The recordings included vehicle routes, people entering and leaving the cars, and codes for military facility gates or doors.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
4 outletsLatest reporting 3 min readNo new reporting in 4 days
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 2 unrated
Updat3 graphic: China
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Norwegian Home Guard soldiers found videos stored in rental cars’ systems during a military exercise at Oslo Airport (per ap7am.com, The Straits Times).
  • The recordings included codes used to access military facilities (per ap7am.com, The Straits Times).
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Per Gunnar Grosberghaugen confirmed that soldiers found the videos and said he could not rule out that they had been shared with a third party (per The Straits Times, ap7am.com).
  • The military continued using the cars until the exercise ended because it lacked alternatives, and soldiers then deleted the videos (per The Straits Times).

The brief

Norwegian Home Guard soldiers found videos stored in rental cars used during a military exercise at Oslo Airport. The recordings showed routes taken during the exercise, people entering and leaving vehicles, and codes for gates or doors at military facilities, according to the reported account.

The discovery occurred during a security exercise at Oslo Airport between September 14 and 18. The exercise date is reported by ap7am.com.

The Straits Times says soldiers waiting in the cars found the videos by using the vehicle screens; its account and ap7am.com both report that the videos were stored in vehicle systems and that the material included personnel movements and facility access information.

Lieutenant-Colonel Per Gunnar Grosberghaugen, a Norwegian Home Guard spokesperson, confirmed that soldiers found videos from vehicle sensors in the cars’ systems. He said he could not rule out the possibility that the files had been shared with a third party.

That statement leaves the question of any sharing unresolved; the accounts do not establish that a third party received or viewed the recordings. Dagens Naeringsliv reported that at least two vehicles were Deepal models made by Changan. The Straits Times also identified those makes and reported that Hertz Norge supplied the cars to the army and is indirectly owned by Geely.

Ap7am.com describes the cars as Chinese-made and says Hertz Norge supplied them. These details identify the vehicles and supplier, but the reporting does not attribute access to the recordings to either company. The military continued using the vehicles until the exercise ended because it lacked alternatives, the Straits Times reported. Soldiers deleted the videos afterward.

The outlet also reported that Hertz Norge said it complies with Norwegian and European regulations. That compliance statement does not resolve whether the files had previously been shared. The reporting therefore establishes the discovery, the sensitive information visible in the recordings, and their subsequent deletion, while leaving third-party access unconfirmed.

It also raises a practical security issue for the military: vehicle systems held recordings containing information about movements and access to facilities, and the soldiers continued to use the cars until the exercise ended.

The Straits Times placed the episode alongside 2025 tests for Oslo’s Ruter public transport authority, which found that Yutong could theoretically immobilise its electric buses through an over-the-air update system.

That separate example concerns a different manufacturer and capability; it does not establish that the rental cars involved in the exercise could be remotely controlled or that anyone accessed their recordings.

Why it matters

  • Home Guard personnel and military facilities face an information-security risk when rental-car systems retain routes, movements and gate or door codes in stored recordings.
  • The military kept using the vehicles until the exercise ended because it lacked alternatives, leaving the cars in use after soldiers discovered the stored videos.
  • At least two vehicles were reported as Deepal models made by Changan; Hertz Norge supplied the rental cars and is indirectly owned by Geely, according to The Straits Times.
  • Whether a third party received the recordings remains unresolved: the Home Guard spokesperson said he could not rule out sharing, while soldiers deleted the files after the exercise.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Norwegian Home Guard establishes if the recordings were shared with a third party.
  • Whether the military identifies how vehicle recordings containing routes and facility access codes remained stored in the rental cars.
  • Whether Hertz Norge provides further information about its handling of the vehicles’ stored recordings.
  • Whether the military changes how it uses rental vehicles during exercises after soldiers delete stored files.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 75% · Asia 25%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in Unknown (3 of 4 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 3 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • Ap7am.com foregrounds concerns about connected vehicles and describes the cars as Chinese-made; The Straits Times focuses on the discovery, deletion of the videos and the unresolved possibility of third-party sharing.
  • The Straits Times reports Grosberghaugen’s confirmation and uncertainty about possible third-party sharing; ap7am.com reports his confirmation that soldiers found stored videos.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Per Gunnar Grosberghaugen said he could not rule out sharing with a third party, but the reporting does not confirm that anyone outside the military received or viewed the recordings.
  • Grosberghaugen said he could not rule out that the recordings were shared with a third party.
  • Hertz Norge said it complies with Norwegian and European regulations.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not report whether any third party accessed the recordings.
  • The sources do not provide casualty information or describe physical harm.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. China’s Changan traces its origins to a military-supply factory established in 1862.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The law sits alongside Norway’s wider military-security arrangements: the country was a founding member of NATO when the alliance was established on April 4, 1949.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. The European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Norway adopted its current Security Act.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Norway passed the Personal Data Act, incorporating the GDPR into national law.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Norway’s current Security Act entered into force.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Changan introduced its Deepal brand in 2022 as part of its move into new-energy vehicles.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. In 2023, Norway’s National Security Authority (NSM) warned in its annual risk assessment that digital systems and dependencies in suppliers’ technology could create security vulnerabilities.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

In 2023, Norway’s National Security Authority (NSM) warned in its annual risk assessment that digital systems and dependencies in suppliers’ technology could create security vulnerabilities. Norway’s Security Act, adopted on June 1, 2018, and brought into force on January 1, 2019, established rules for protecting national security and sensitive information.

The law sits alongside Norway’s wider military-security arrangements: the country was a founding member of NATO when the alliance was established on April 4, 1949. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted on April 27, 2016, became applicable on May 25, 2018; Norway incorporated it into national law through the Personal Data Act of June 15, 2018.

Original sources

4 articles from 4 outlets

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