Now that vape pens can be linked to your smartphone, we have another form of Chinese technology and its potential for spying on us to worry about. Fox News reports that congressmen are talking about how so-called smart vapes invite malicious intrusion (February 3, 2026).
Given that connection between the Chinese Communist Party and China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, it’s possible that so-called smart vapes could be used as spying devices.
[GOP lawmakers writing to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer] charged that the “highly sophisticated” vapes had the ability to connect to a person’s cellphone and have become extremely commonplace.
“These devices have the capacity to initiate data breaches or malware infections and can also access and collect sensitive user data,” they wrote. “Given the interconnected relationship between Chinese industry and state intelligence services, the targeting of U.S. military personnel with these devices raises profound national security concerns.”
President Donald Trump made the crackdown against Chinese vapes one of the many side quests that his administration pursued last year, going so far as to try and crush the supply of the devices at ports across the country.
Last year, for example, the Trump-led Department of Justice announced the capture of roughly $90 million worth of vape products from China in one fell swoop.
This is the kind of concern that tends to evoke chortles and sarcasm from skeptics of the view that the People’s Republic of China is both a hostile power and does hostile things.
The Chinese Communist Party appreciates the skepticism. But if a form of assault, however unusual or new, is also practicable—like transmitting spyware from a vape gadget to a smartphone—the CCP has not only considered exploiting it but may be doing so right now or at least laying the groundwork for doing so. If there’s software and Internet access, concern about using Chinese tech is justified.
