Tesla employees shared private recordings from customers’ cars, the lawsuit states
The lawsuit alleges that employees did not share these images for business use, “but for the tasteless and tortious entertainment of Tesla employees, and perhaps those outside the company, and the humiliation of those who were secretly recorded.”
The recording was also the subject of jokes in group chats, according to the complaint.
The suit was filed after the allegations were first reported by Reuters on Thursday. It took many of its examples from that news report.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.
Anyone who has owned or leased a Tesla since 2019 is eligible to join the suit, which aims to force the company to compensate customers for the cost or partial cost of their vehicles. The exact amount will be determined in a court case.
The suit also asks the court to compel Tesla to stop “recording, viewing and sharing” images taken by the car’s cameras and to destroy any personal data obtained in violation of state privacy laws. A judge must first conclude that there is an appropriate class action.
The plaintiff in the suit is Henry Yeh, a San Francisco resident who owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. This model and many others have a driver-facing camera in addition to eight cameras to capture the area around the vehicle. These cameras could capture footage of the inside of customers’ homes or garages, the lawsuit claimed.
“No one consented to Tesla’s employees using their photos for pleasure,” Jack Fitzgerald, one of Yeh’s lawyers, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “MR. Yeh was shocked to learn that Tesla’s systems did not adequately protect his privacy and intends to hold Tesla accountable.”
Tesla employees shared photos of the family pet as memes, and distributed some footage to “tons” of colleagues, according to the complaint.
“That such videos and images were made available for Tesla employees to view and share, at will, and for improper purposes, affects every single person with a Tesla vehicle, their families, passengers and even guests in their homes ,” the complaint. reader.
In its customer privacy policy, Tesla writes that “camera footage remains anonymous and is not linked to you or your vehicle.” If users consent to data sharing, the privacy statement says, Tesla will use the information to communicate with customers, perform business services and improve its products.
The lawsuit alleges that Tesla violated that policy and customers’ right to privacy under California law by storing the recordings and then allowing employees to access and share them without the customers’ consent. Some footage may have been taken when cars were turned off, the suit added.
