Tesla workers violated drivers' privacy, shared embarrassing car camera footage, lawsuit alleges



A California man is suing Tesla over privacy concerns, saying the company's employees shared "embarrassing" footage captured on drivers' car cameras, Reuters reported Wednesday.

"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," one ex-employee said, as cited in the suit.

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

"Any normal human being would be appalled by this," David Choffnes, director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University in Boston said of Tesla's alleged sharing of sensitive footage.

The class-action lawsuit filed Friday targets footage taken between 2019 and 2022 via Tesla vehicles' integral Autopilot system. Tesla's eight-camera system captures 360 degrees around the vehicle, and some models also feature a driver-facing device.

Rather than using the footage for work purposes, to improve the car, for example, the lawsuit says workers were able to access footage "for the tasteless and tortious entertainment of Tesla employees, and perhaps those outside the company, and the humiliation of those surreptitiously recorded."

Some examples of circulated recordings in "private and embarrassing situations and without their consent" cited in the lawsuit included a completely naked man approaching a Tesla, road-rage incidents, a child being hit by a Tesla driving at a high rate of speed and flying off his or her bike, and pictures of family pets made into memes.

The lawsuit also alleges, that despite Tesla's assurances to the contrary, the data were not truly anonymized. It was possible for anyone viewing the images to connect the footage to owners and locations.

The alleged footage sharing occurred despite the company's privacy policy assuring customers vehicles are "designed from the ground up up to protect your privacy" and "camera recordings remain anonymous," the lawsuit notes.

Tesla is not alone in featuring camera systems on its cars. In fact, backup cameras have been required in new cars in the U.S. since 2018. Whether the data gathered by backup and other car camera systems is sent to the manufacturer, stored, or sold to others varies widely, as Vox reported Thursday.

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‘Jackassery’: Sen. Sasse Calls For No Cameras Inside The Supreme Court

'Recognize the jackassery'

Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper slammed for scrapping social distancing as the cameras pull away



Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and CNN host Anderson Cooper were criticized on social media Thursday night, after viewers noticed that the two threw social distancing out the window as the cameras pulled away after carefully staying far apart during the candidate's town hall.

What are the details?

Pundit Steve Krakauer shared footage of the incident, tweeting, "Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper are making a point of social distancing during the CNN Town Hall while on the stage. But when they think they've gone to commercial break, they get so close to each other that Biden is whispering in Cooper's ear:"

Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper are making a point of social distancing during the CNN Town Hall while on the stage.… https://t.co/lqIYfFKmMW
— Steve Krakauer (@Steve Krakauer)1600391142.0

Sure enough, the clip shared by Krakauer shows that after Cooper signs off for a commercial break, the cameras pull back but continue to show Biden approaching Anderson and the host leaning over as Biden appears to whisper in his ear.

Neither of them were wearing masks, which is noteworthy since Biden has repeatedly vowed that his administration would impose a federal mask mandate as long as it is legal.

The town hall was held in a parking lot and 35 cars were allowed for the "drive-in" event.. CNN reported that it "CNN is following all of the local guidelines and restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic," according to the vice president of its special events team, "and everybody attending and working the town hall will have their temperatures taken and will answer screening questions."

The outlet noted that in Pennsylvania, where the event was held, "wearing masks when outside of the home is mandatory."

But Twitter users noticed that Biden and Cooper did not appear to be following the rules.

Several people called both men "frauds" and re-upped the common accusation that CNN is "fake news." One person tweeted, "They are so phony. It's sad that so many people are blind to it.." Another asked, "Can you catch Covid if the cameras aren't rolling?"

Fox News'' Pete Hegseth reacted to the footage, describing it as 'mask-mandate Joe whispering sweeting nothings to @andersoncooper."

Mask-mandate Joe whispering sweet nothings to @andersoncooper. Just didn’t know the cameras were still rolling... https://t.co/o9fPB1n5FH
— Pete Hegseth (@Pete Hegseth)1600390148.0

Some folks wondered exactly what the two were discussing.

Others said the moment reminded them of when CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins was caught on camera immediately removing her mask after a White House coronavirus briefing in May.

But there were those who came to Biden and Cooper's defense, with one person tweeting, "They are both tested daily. They have to be in order to do their jobs effectively."