Tesla, like just about every other big company today, has staunch supporters as well as stubborn detractors. Both sides tend to use quite reasonable arguments (although after a certain point of fanaticism they also fall into idiocy, unfortunately) and, as a general rule, calmly listening to what each other raises usually leads us to that place where usually find the closest thing to the truth, what is the middle point.
There are, however, cases in which even the most unredeemed of fans must surrender to the evidence and accept that “theirs” have done something else, and this should certainly be one of those cases. And especially, in this case, to those who, in addition to defending the company, are users of its vehicles, since a misuse of its functions by Tesla employees has given rise to a privacy problem that, frankly, , It’s to make your hair stand on end.
It all started last Friday, when the Reuters Agency published a special report, in which it echoed the statements of several former Tesla workers, who stated that the recordings made by the vehicles are shared by the workers. And no, in case you are thinking about it, I am not referring to images and recordings related to the operation of cars, for diagnostic purposes and the like. No, I’m talking about recordings of all kinds, including private ones that, according to the testimony of one of those ex-employees, were disseminated through private chats «like a wildfire«.
The recordings include from funny pictures that employees turned into memes even images of nudes and accidents in which a Tesla was involved. The company affirms that the recordings they receive are anonymous, but the ex-workers affirm that they are geopositioned, so they can reveal the identity of the owner of the vehicle.
As a consequence, as we can read in Ars Technica, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Tesla, which includes as a potential claimant (since those who wish may join it) any US citizen who has owned or rented a Tesla during the last four years. The basis for the lawsuit is, of course, the information revealed by Reuters.
«Tesla captures footage of people being exposed on their own property, in their own garages, and even in their own homes, including at least one case where Tesla’s cameras caught video of a naked man in his home.“, the lawsuit states. «Tesla also captured and disseminated video and images of customers’ pets and even their children, a group long recognized by society as vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation. In fact, the interest of parents in the privacy of their children is one of the most fundamental freedom interests that society recognizes.«.
Although this first lawsuit is limited to the United States, there is no doubt that both regulators and consumer associations around the world should act immediately in this same sense. We know, of course, that vehicles have cameras, and that these can record videos that are sent to the manufacturer for different and legitimate reasons. However, the fact that employees have free access to these files denotes an absolute and very worrying lack of diligence in the custody of the data by the company.
Employees have acted badly, there is no doubt, but legal regulations such as the GDPR oblige companies to due protection and custody of digital assets, so if the allegations published by Reuters are confirmed, the situation for Tesla in Europe could be considerably complicated. And, personally, in view of the facts (with the natural reservation until they are confirmed), I believe that this is what should happen, and sooner rather than later.
