If you're a Tesla owner, employees might be sharing your camera recordings

AppleInsider

According to nine former Tesla employees, groups at Tesla routinely shared private -- and often sensitive -- videos and messages from customer car cameras.

Tesla

Although Tesla's privacy policy notes, "Your privacy is and will always be enormously important to us," recent interviews by Reuters revealed the opposite. Between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared sensitive customer information via an internal messaging system.

Some recordings showed crashes and road-rage incidents. For example, a Tesla was seen in a video from 2021 driving at high speed in a residential area and hiding a child riding a bike.

An ex-employee said the video circulated "like wildfire" through private chats within a San Mateo, California Tesla office. And in another video, a former employee described how the recording showed a naked man approaching the vehicle.

Tesla's privacy policy also states, "camera recordings remain anonymous," but the ex-employees said they used a program at work that could show the locations of recordings and potentially discover where a Tesla owner lived.

"We could see inside people's garages and their private properties," said another former employee. "Let's say that a Tesla customer had something in their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds of things."

Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk might not have been safe from some recordings. Three years ago, some employees found and shared a video of "Wet Nellie," the white Lotus Esprit sub featured in the 1977 James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me."

Musk had purchased it at a 2013 auction, although it's unknown whether he was aware of the video or that it was shared.

The ex-employees claimed that they didn't keep the videos or images. Some also said they only saw sharing for work purposes, such as getting help from colleagues or supervisors.

Two former employees said they weren't troubled by the sharing of photographs, claiming that customers had given their agreement or people had long ago given up any reasonable expectation of keeping personal data private. But three employees said the incidents did trouble them.

One said, "It was a breach of privacy, to be honest. And I always joked that I would never buy a Tesla after seeing how they treated some of these people."

Another ex-employee said, "I'm bothered by it because the people who buy the car, I don't think they know that their privacy is, like, not respected...We could see them doing laundry and really intimate things. We could see their kids."

Regulator scrutiny

Tesla's car camera system has generated controversy in previous years. For instance, some government compounds and residential neighborhoods banned Teslas out of concern about the cameras.

And in February, the Dutch Data Protection Authority concluded an investigation into Tesla over possible privacy violations with "Sentry Mode," a feature that can record any suspicious activity when a vehicle is parked and alert the owner.

However, the regulator found that rather than Tesla, it was the vehicle owners who were legally responsible for the recordings.

For regulators in the US, a spokesperson for the FTC told Reuters that the agency doesn't comment on individual companies or their conduct. Musk didn't respond to a request for comment.

Read on AppleInsider

ilarynx

Exactly zero people surprised by this revelation. 

From the CEO who offered a horse in exchange for Special Stewardess Treatment, ladies and gentlemen. (A bag of pretzels is enough for most people).

ihatescreennames

AppleInsider said:

Two former employees said they weren't troubled by the sharing of photographs, claiming that customers had given their agreement or people had long ago given up any reasonable expectation of keeping personal data private.

Ummm, speak for yourselves. 

edited April 2023

proline

I doubt Tesla owners would object. They generally consider the company to be above criticism. I mean when Tesla took their money for "Full self-driving" in 2014 and still hasn't delivered it, their only reaction was that they wish they'd paid more! Or when Tesla became the only company that doesn't offer CarPlay or Android Auto, their reaction was that they are just glad their steering wheels are (mostly) staying on.

cpsro

I can do without paying $15K extra for a Fully Self Driving vehicle that isn't and really never will be.

edited April 2023

mknelson

"For example, a Tesla was seen in a video from 2021 driving at high speed in a residential area and hiding a child riding a bike."

Hiding? Like, in the Frunk?

Seriously, thought - that's pretty messed up. They've probably watched footage from the interior camera (or perhaps that isn't streamed/saved).

cpsro

mknelson said:

"For example, a Tesla was seen in a video from 2021 driving at high speed in a residential area and hiding a child riding a bike."

Hiding? Like, in the Frunk?

My inference was the car hit the child.

mknelson

cpsro said:

mknelson said:

"For example, a Tesla was seen in a video from 2021 driving at high speed in a residential area and hiding a child riding a bike."

Hiding? Like, in the Frunk?

My inference was the car hit the child.

Well, obviously it's a typo, but it's funny because it's a complete and almost logical sentence.

Also, with regards to the interior camera from the more complete ArsTechnica article: "One former employee reported seeing "scandalous stuff," including "scenes of intimacy but not nudity," as well as "certain pieces of laundry, certain sexual wellness items... and just private scenes of life that we really were privy to because the car was charging.""

alandail

cpsro said:

I can do without paying $15K extra for a Fully Self Driving vehicle that isn't and really never will be.

FSD Beta drove 1500 miles for me last week, I drove 17 miles. Safest cars on the planet.

rogue01

mknelson said:

"For example, a Tesla was seen in a video from 2021 driving at high speed in a residential area and hiding a child riding a bike."

Hiding? Like, in the Frunk?

Seriously, thought - that's pretty messed up. They've probably watched footage from the interior camera (or perhaps that isn't streamed/saved).

Here is the correct information from another news source:

One crash video in 2021 showed a Tesla driving at high speed in a residential area hitting a child riding a bike, according to another ex-employee. The child flew in one direction, the bike in another. The video spread around a Tesla office in San Mateo, California, via private one-on-one chats, “like wildfire,” the ex-employee said.

m68000

It really makes you wonder how much privacy is being given up with today’s internet connected vehicles.  A far cry from what was on the road 20 years ago.   Today,  we see dashboards replaced with huge lcd screens with fingerprints all over them.   Recently, I saw some video of a new Mercedes that had lcd screens going from the driver door to the passenger door, replacing luxury materials and craftsmanship.  Basically cars are becoming gps enabled computers on wheels that look hideous inside. 

jimh2

JP234 said:

Is anyone surprised that people who can work for a psychopathic a-hole are a-holes themselves? The boss a-hole has already crapped out and flushed anyone who isn't his brand of a-holery, and not just in Tesla. He should wind up just like his hero, Nikola Tesla, a con man/hustler with one good idea and a lifetime of bad decisions leaving him alone, friendless, staggering drunk on his own Kool-Aid.

Can you provide us a list of your accomplishments? I will say 100% certainty you have done little to nothing that is even noteworthy whereas Musk, whom you describe psychopathic a-hole, will remembered as one of the greatest leaders in history:

• Tesla: Against all odds he created a successful car company and brought EV's to the masses. No other car company has been able to come close to what he has done and they are established manufacturers with everything to make a car in place. They chose to get passed by a newcomer. I still do not have much hope for Ford or GM and Toyota has mostly sat the quest for EV's out. I am not sure how anyone will catch Teslain the near term as he is years ahead and not letting off of the gas.
• SpaceX: First privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a commercial satellite in orbit. First private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft. First private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Has rockets that return to their takeoff spot. Prior to SpaceX Lockheed Martin and Boeing sat on fat, competition free contracts with NASA delivering the status quo, with no hope of every doing what Musk did.
• Starlink: Created a company delivering Internet to numerous area and countries that stood zero change of getting high speed service. The market leader prior to Starlink was Hughes Net which pales in comparison to Starlink even though it is early stage.
• PayPal: Cofounder.
• Add in battery production, work on solar and probably some stuff I cannot think of.

Note that this is more than one good idea. That is four game-changing companies he founded, co-founded or leads. As close to Steve Jobs as anyone has been in a long time. No question his behavior is questionable, but he has gotten results. If you have someone to compare him to please let us all know.

ofer

jimh2 said:

JP234 said:

Is anyone surprised that people who can work for a psychopathic a-hole are a-holes themselves? The boss a-hole has already crapped out and flushed anyone who isn't his brand of a-holery, and not just in Tesla. He should wind up just like his hero, Nikola Tesla, a con man/hustler with one good idea and a lifetime of bad decisions leaving him alone, friendless, staggering drunk on his own Kool-Aid.

Can you provide us a list of your accomplishments? I will say 100% certainty you have done little to nothing that is even noteworthy whereas Musk, whom you describe psychopathic a-hole, will remembered as one of the greatest leaders in history:

• Tesla: Against all odds he created a successful car company and brought EV's to the masses. No other car company has been able to come close to what he has done and they are established manufacturers with everything to make a car in place. They chose to get passed by a newcomer. I still do not have much hope for Ford or GM and Toyota has mostly sat the quest for EV's out. I am not sure how anyone will catch Teslain the near term as he is years ahead and not letting off of the gas.
• SpaceX: First privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a commercial satellite in orbit. First private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft. First private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Has rockets that return to their takeoff spot. Prior to SpaceX Lockheed Martin and Boeing sat on fat, competition free contracts with NASA delivering the status quo, with no hope of every doing what Musk did.
• Starlink: Created a company delivering Internet to numerous area and countries that stood zero change of getting high speed service. The market leader prior to Starlink was Hughes Net which pales in comparison to Starlink even though it is early stage.
• PayPal: Cofounder.
• Add in battery production, work on solar and probably some stuff I cannot think of.

Note that this is more than one good idea. That is four game-changing companies he founded, co-founded or leads. As close to Steve Jobs as anyone has been in a long time. No question his behavior is questionable, but he has gotten results. If you have someone to compare him to please let us all know.

PayPal wasn’t profitable until after Musk’s departure.

Musk didn’t create Tesla, he bought his way into it.

SpaceX is successful despite Musk, not because of him. They actually have someone who’s paid to follow Musk around and make sure he doesn’t do too much damage any time he tries to involve himself with SpaceX. The person who runs SpaceX is Gwynne Shotwell. But of course, as with all of his other ventures, Musk loves to take credit for other people’s work while blaming others for his incompetence.

9secondkox2

those people. should be fired from tesla.and possibly prosecuted. 

sounds like elon was a victim too as they watched. the inside. of his garage. 

gotta wonder what the. alexa and siri people do for fun around the office...

proline

Ofer said:

jimh2 said:

JP234 said:

Is anyone surprised that people who can work for a psychopathic a-hole are a-holes themselves? The boss a-hole has already crapped out and flushed anyone who isn't his brand of a-holery, and not just in Tesla. He should wind up just like his hero, Nikola Tesla, a con man/hustler with one good idea and a lifetime of bad decisions leaving him alone, friendless, staggering drunk on his own Kool-Aid.

Can you provide us a list of your accomplishments? I will say 100% certainty you have done little to nothing that is even noteworthy whereas Musk, whom you describe psychopathic a-hole, will remembered as one of the greatest leaders in history:

• Tesla: Against all odds he created a successful car company and brought EV's to the masses. No other car company has been able to come close to what he has done and they are established manufacturers with everything to make a car in place. They chose to get passed by a newcomer. I still do not have much hope for Ford or GM and Toyota has mostly sat the quest for EV's out. I am not sure how anyone will catch Teslain the near term as he is years ahead and not letting off of the gas.
• SpaceX: First privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a commercial satellite in orbit. First private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft. First private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Has rockets that return to their takeoff spot. Prior to SpaceX Lockheed Martin and Boeing sat on fat, competition free contracts with NASA delivering the status quo, with no hope of every doing what Musk did.
• Starlink: Created a company delivering Internet to numerous area and countries that stood zero change of getting high speed service. The market leader prior to Starlink was Hughes Net which pales in comparison to Starlink even though it is early stage.
• PayPal: Cofounder.
• Add in battery production, work on solar and probably some stuff I cannot think of.

Note that this is more than one good idea. That is four game-changing companies he founded, co-founded or leads. As close to Steve Jobs as anyone has been in a long time. No question his behavior is questionable, but he has gotten results. If you have someone to compare him to please let us all know.

PayPal wasn’t profitable until after Musk’s departure.

Musk didn’t create Tesla, he bought his way into it.

SpaceX is successful despite Musk, not because of him. They actually have someone who’s paid to follow Musk around and make sure he doesn’t do too much damage any time he tries to involve himself with SpaceX. The person who runs SpaceX is Gwynne Shotwell. But of course, as with all of his other ventures, Musk loves to take credit for other people’s work while blaming others for his incompetence.

If Musk didn't create PayPal because it wasn't profitable while he was there, then he certainly created Tesla because it wasn't profitable when he wasn't there. I love how your points contradict each other- that's a sign of motivated reasoning if ever there was one. That said, Elon Musk is legally recognized as a Tesla founder and prior to his involvement the company had zero products and zero revenue. He definitely built it from the ground up.

As for Shotwell's work at SpaceX, if you're saying she's a great leader, then there goes the premise that the people who work for Musk are a-holes.

edited April 2023

mygig

To be fair, the car clearly asks you, if you are willing to shrare clips with Tesla. It would be more of a story, if those clips include people who choose not to share clips.

bloggerblog

alandail said:

cpsro said:

I can do without paying $15K extra for a Fully Self Driving vehicle that isn't and really never will be.

FSD Beta drove 1500 miles for me last week, I drove 17 miles. Safest cars on the planet.

If that’s true I’d argue that it is worth it for long distance drivers 

foregoneconclusion

proline said: That said, Elon Musk is legally recognized as a Tesla founder and prior to his involvement the company had zero products and zero revenue. He definitely built it from the ground up.

Carbon credits are what built Tesla.

ilarynx

jimh2 said:

JP234 said:

Is anyone surprised that people who can work for a psychopathic a-hole are a-holes themselves? The boss a-hole has already crapped out and flushed anyone who isn't his brand of a-holery, and not just in Tesla. He should wind up just like his hero, Nikola Tesla, a con man/hustler with one good idea and a lifetime of bad decisions leaving him alone, friendless, staggering drunk on his own Kool-Aid.

Can you provide us a list of your accomplishments? I will say 100% certainty you have done little to nothing that is even noteworthy whereas Musk, whom you describe psychopathic a-hole, will remembered as one of the greatest leaders in history:

• Tesla: Against all odds he created a successful car company and brought EV's to the masses. No other car company has been able to come close to what he has done and they are established manufacturers with everything to make a car in place. They chose to get passed by a newcomer. I still do not have much hope for Ford or GM and Toyota has mostly sat the quest for EV's out. I am not sure how anyone will catch Teslain the near term as he is years ahead and not letting off of the gas.
• SpaceX: First privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a commercial satellite in orbit. First private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft. First private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Has rockets that return to their takeoff spot. Prior to SpaceX Lockheed Martin and Boeing sat on fat, competition free contracts with NASA delivering the status quo, with no hope of every doing what Musk did.
• Starlink: Created a company delivering Internet to numerous area and countries that stood zero change of getting high speed service. The market leader prior to Starlink was Hughes Net which pales in comparison to Starlink even though it is early stage.
• PayPal: Cofounder.
• Add in battery production, work on solar and probably some stuff I cannot think of.

Note that this is more than one good idea. That is four game-changing companies he founded, co-founded or leads. As close to Steve Jobs as anyone has been in a long time. No question his behavior is questionable, but he has gotten results. If you have someone to compare him to please let us all know.

The mindless adulation by the Musk minions is mind-boggling. It borders on beatification. 

Tesla: As others have pointed out, Musk did not create Tesla. He is more frequently and more accurately referred to as an early investor or “angel investor” with Tesla. He essentially bought the rights to rewrite the company’s history. 

https://www.cnet.com/culture/tesla-motors-founders-now-there-are-five/

Elon should also find a designer who can make his cars less ugly. 

SpaceX: An impressive endeavor. One that was built on the shoulders of NASA and the others that were clumsily discounted. The long-time residents of Boca Chica, Texas, who are getting steamrollered by Musk’s SpaceX project there have a view of Musk that’s less obscured by rose-colored glasses. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-spacex-rocket-boca-chica-texas-starbase-11620353687

Starlink: This is a true clustermusk of an operation. Poorly planned and poorly executed, they are ruining scientific projects on a daily basis and have caused an exponential increase in LEO hazards. 

https://astronomy.com/news/2022/03/starlink-satellite-streaks-how-big-a-problem-are-they

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab8016

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/satellite-constellations-could-harm-the-environment-new-watchdog-report-says/

And the only way they can feign any hope of profitability this year, is to “exclude launch related costs.” 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/spacex-president-says-satellite-internet-business-expected-to-make-money-this-year-11675968242

I could afford a nice trip to the Maldives, IF I excluded airline ticket related costs. 

PayPal: Along with the other founders, some of whom espouse anti-democracy and authoritarian views. But, there are also those who proudly held up Mussolini as the one who could make the trains run on time. I guess some people have to take whatever praise they can get. 

Solar: Still not ready for prime time. 

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facing-weak-demand-for-its-pricey-solar-roof-tesla-plans-changes 

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64236726

There are lots of examples of individuals being considered “geniuses” - until they weren’t. Elizabeth Holmes, Sam Bankman-Fried, Dennis Kozlowski, Billy McFarland, etc., etc. Yet their sycophants idolized them to the end. Some, afterwards. 

Beyond his “ingenious” destruction of Twitter (left off the list of “accomplishments” for some reason), there are all the other inanities that expose Musk as a truly shallow individual in just about every way. 

I’ve followed Musk for several years, admiring some of his accomplishments, and have even traveled to view an early SpaceX Falcon 9 launch - impressive. I’ve read at least 5 books on Steve Jobs and have followed his work since my first Mac 128 in 1985. ANY comparison of these two that extends much beyond “mammals” is laughably absurd. 

appleish

Owning a Tesla is the ultimate self-own.

bloggerblog

Still waiting for the Tesla Roadster and its claimed 600 mile range and the cybertruck with armored glass