Despite Tesla Inc’s reassurances of prioritizing customer privacy, interviews with nine former employees reveal that between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared highly invasive videos and images captured by customers’ car cameras via an internal messaging system.
According to a Reuters report, Tesla employees shared recordings that captured customers in embarrassing situations. In one instance, a video depicted a naked man approaching a vehicle. Additionally, the shared content included videos of crashes and road-rage incidents. One particular video from 2021 showed a Tesla driving at high speed in a residential area, colliding with a child riding a bike. The child was thrown in one direction while the bike flew in another. This video rapidly circulated within a Tesla office in San Mateo, California, through private one-on-one chats, spreading “like wildfire,” as described by a former employee.
In addition to the more sensational content, Tesla employees also shared relatively ordinary images, including pictures of dogs and humorous road signs, which they turned into memes by adding amusing captions or commentary. These images were then posted in private group chats. While some of the shared content was limited to two employees, several ex-employees revealed that many others had access to these posts.
While Tesla’s “Customer Privacy Notice” asserts that camera recordings are anonymous and not connected to individual customers or vehicles, seven former employees have informed Reuters that the computer program they utilized at work had the capability to display the location of the recorded footage. This raises concerns that such information could potentially unveil the residential address of Tesla owners.
According to former employees, certain recordings seemed to have been captured while Tesla cars were parked and powered off. In the past, Tesla used to receive video recordings from vehicles even when they were turned off, with the owner’s consent. However, the company has since discontinued this practice.
Former employees disclosed that they had the ability to observe the interior of customers’ garages and private properties. One ex-employee mentioned that distinctive items found in a customer’s garage were sometimes shared among the employees.
Approximately three years ago, some employees came across and shared a video showcasing a distinctive submersible vehicle parked inside a garage. According to two individuals who viewed the footage, the vehicle in question was a white Lotus Esprit sub famously known as “Wet Nellie,” featured in the 1977 James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Surprisingly, the owner of the vehicle was none other than Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, who had purchased it at an auction in 2013 for approximately $968,000. It remains unclear whether Musk was aware of the existence of the video or its subsequent sharing among employees. Tesla did not provide a response to the detailed inquiries submitted for this report.
