Tesla employees shared sensitive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras, a Reuters investigation finds.
Content recorded by built-in cameras used to assist driving was routinely shared between employees via an internal messaging system between 2019 and 2022, the reports says.
As Reuters notes, some of the shared content shows people in compromising situations: one video, for example, shows a man approaching a Tesla completely naked. Others include footage from car crashes and road rage incidents.
According to an ex-Tesla worker, the videos and images were shared between two employees or in private group chats that included “scores” of other employees. Some of the content, specifically pictures of dogs and funny road signs, were turned into memes and passed around.
Seven former employees tell Reuters that it was even possible to see the location of car camera recordings with the computer program they used for work. And in further concerning disclosures, it seems some of the recordings were made when cars were parked and turned off.
Until recently, Tesla had a policy that permitted the automaker to receive recordings from vehicles that had been turned off if customers consented. A Dutch government agency investigation, however, led to that practice being abandoned this year, after cameras were found to be filming everyone who came near a Tesla.
One ex-employee tells Reuters: “We could see inside people’s garages and their private properties. Let’s say that a Tesla customer had something in their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds of things.”
In its customer privacy notice, Tesla says it designed the camera system to protect users’ privacy. Its website says the cameras are “designed from the ground up to protect your privacy.”
Tesla, which dissolved its press office in 2020, does not have a communications team that can be reached for comment.