Can it snoop on me?
information
Camera

Device: Yes

App: Yes
Microphone

Device: Yes

App: Yes
Tracks location

Device: Yes

App: Yes
What can be used to sign up?
Email

Yes
Phone

Yes
Third-party account

N/A
What data does the company collect?
Personal

"Your name, address, region, email, phone number, contact preference; location. Vehicle- and driving-related data: vehicle year, make, model, vehicle identification number, configuration, telemetry regarding performance, usage, operation, and health of your vehicle, charging station used, utilization, charge rate, battery analytics and performance, logs for identifying and troubleshooting unexpected software or connectivity issues, and other debugging log reports, analytics regarding infotainment usage such as function, successfully or unsuccessfully loaded; Vehicle equipped camera suite that provides advanced features such as Autopilot, Smart Summon, and Autopark; "
Body related

If you opt-in*, cabin camera data, autopilot camera data. *it has been reported Tesla might review some camera data from users whether they opt-in or not. See our Known Track Record section below for more information on these reports.
Social

How does the company use this data?

We ding this product because it collects data about you from third parties, including joint marketing partners, and is unclear how they use that data. We are also concerned about this product as they say they can share your personal information is ways that are vaguely stated and are not clear to us how your personal information is used and if you are able to always opt-out of its sharing.

Customer Privacy Notice

"We do not sell your personal data to anyone for any purpose, period."

"We do not share information that personally identifies you with third parties for their marketing purposes unless you opt-in to that sharing."

"We clearly define the vehicle data which we collect and don't collect. Tesla does not link your location with your account or identity, or keep a history of where you’ve been."

"We may also receive information about you from sources such as public databases, joint marketing partners, certified installers, affiliates and business partners, and social media platforms."

We may share information with:
Our service providers, business partners and affiliates
Third parties you authorize
Other third parties as required by law"

"We limit how, and with who, we share your personal data. Examples of when we may share your information include, payment processing, order fulfillment, product installation, customer service, marketing, financing, service or repair, and other similar services."

"The personal data we collect may be shared between Tesla and our subsidiaries, affiliates (companies that are owned or controlled by Tesla, or where we have a substantial ownership interest), third party service providers, channel partners, suppliers, and others when necessary to perform services on our or on your behalf. "

"We may also use and disclose information about you if we believe in good faith that that the law requires it for purposes of security, fulfilling our legal obligations (such subpoenas or court orders), law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate."

In addition, we may share information with:

- Third party service providers and channel partners to provide services such as website hosting, data analysis and storage, payment processing, order fulfillment and product installation, wireless connectivity to Tesla products, information technology and related infrastructure, customer service, product design, product diagnostics, maintenance or related services, email delivery, credit card processing, auditing, marketing, voice command processing, and other similar services.

- Subsidiaries and affiliates (such as Tesla Insurance Services, Inc.) to develop new and improve existing products and services, perform data analysis, and reporting.

- Repair estimate providers and any insurance company to enable Tesla or third party service centers to perform services on your vehicle such as repair or maintenance.  Repair estimate providers may use this information in the aggregate to create and publish industry analytics.

- Other third party business partners to the extent that they are involved in the purchase, lease, or service of your Tesla products. We share limited information from or about you or your Tesla products to allow you to take advantage of those services if you elect to utilize them, with such partners as finance institutions, leasing, registration, title companies, electric utilities, permitting authorities and insurance companies.

- Third parties you authorize, such as:
-- Certified installers ,
-- Third party utilities or energy services companies ,
-- With third party service centers or providers ,
-- Third-party sponsors of contests and similar promotions.

- Third parties when required by law or other circumstances"

Tesla comments on EDPB Guidelines 1/2020

"In addition, Tesla has implemented several measures to ensure our customers have appropriate knowledge of what data may be collected at any given time, as well as the methods that are used in the process.
• Tesla applies the principles of data minimization in general and only collects specific data points (e.g. relating to speed) in the event of technical analysis or a safety critical event.
• Autopilot data sharing is off by default in our vehicles and requires explicit consent from the customer before this can be activated.
• Data sharing can be turned off at any point in time should our customer desire to do so.
• Tesla’s Privacy Notice (www.tesla.com/about/legal) is written and designed in a format that is easy to read, understand and navigate for our customers.
• Data privacy requests are handled through a formal, standardized channel for intake (www.tesla.com/support/contact) which is easily accessible and seamlessly integrated with the customer’s Tesla account. Our support page provides clear instructions explaining the data access request process (www.tesla.com/support/privacy), including frequently asked questions, as well as what kind of data the customer can expect to be provided as part of their request."

Privacy Overview page

"While we periodically review anonymous data from our global fleet, this data is not linked to you or your vehicle. VIN-associated data is only collected for remote diagnostics, for service or during a critical safety event."
How can you control your data?

We can not confirm if all users, regardless of location, can get their data be deleted.

"We retain each category of your Personal Information for no longer than is reasonably necessary for one or more Business Purposes, subject to your right to request we delete your Personal Information. Due to the nature of the Services, it is not possible to predict the length of time that we will retain Personal Information. Instead, we use the following criteria to determine whether it remains reasonably necessary to retain your Personal Information for one or more disclosed Business Purpose(s): (i) whether there is a retention period required by statute or regulations; (ii) the existence of actual or threatened litigation for which we are required to preserve the information; (iii) the statutes of limitations for potential legal claims; and (iv) generally accepted best practices in our industry. When we determine that it is no longer reasonably necessary to retain your Personal Information for one or more disclosed Business Purposes based on the above criteria, we will delete your Personal Information."

The right to delete information is mentioned for California residents:
"You have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained. Be aware, however, that certain exceptions apply to the right to delete Personal Information. We may deny your deletion request if retaining your Personal Information is necessary for us or our Service Providers to:
- complete a transaction for which we collected your Personal Information, provide goods or Services that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you;
- help ensure security and integrity, including to detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities;
- debug Services, products and websites to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
- exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law;
- comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.);
- engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, if you previously provided informed consent;
- enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with the expectations of consumers; or
- comply with a legal obligation, including in connection with product recalls."

The rights are also mentioned for residents covered by GDPR:
"You have at any time the right to object to the use of your personal data for the purposes mentioned in article 2. Besides, you can make use of the following rights:

the right to access your personal data;
• the right to rectification of your personal data;
• the right to erasure of your personal data;
• the right to restriction of processing of your personal data;
• the right to object to the processing of your personal data:
• the right to data portability of your personal data;
• the right to open a claim at the privacy commission;
• the right to withdraw any previously given consent. "
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?

Bad

In April 2023, it was reported that Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars. One ex-employee described a video of a man approaching a vehicle completely naked.

Tesla faces a lawsuit from customers for leaking their video data. This prompted US lawmakers to demand Tesla do a better job at protecting their users' privacy.

In March 2023, it was reported that a Tesla Model 3 was hacked in less than two minutes at a hacking competition, allowing the hackers to potentially open the doors of the car while it was in motion.

In August 2022, there were reports that Tesla or its dealers collect location data from vehicle despite claiming that it is anonymised. Experts believe that anonymized data could still be pieced back together and thus get deanonymize.

In May 2022, it was reported that Tesla Sentry Mode, a system available in many of the company’s models, may violate privacy or bypassers. Tesla designed the system to record not just activity that could damage the vehicle itself, but also events, people and objects that get too close; individuals passing near the vehicle can set Sentry Mode into recording.

In March 2022, a Tesla owner filed a class-action lawsuit alleging "Tesla Inc. disregards drivers’ biometric privacy rights by scanning their faces while in its vehicles."

In October 2021, it was reported that as part of the wider rollout of Tesla’s “full self-driving” option, drivers may forfeit some privacy protections around location sharing and in-car recordings that they previously had.

In March 2021, Consumer Reports raised numerous privacy concerns related to privacy of Tesla built-in cameras.
Child Privacy Information

"In addition, our products and services are not directed to individuals under the age of sixteen, and we request that such individuals not provide any information to Tesla."
Can this product be used offline?

Yes
User-friendly privacy information?

No

Tesla has easy to find privacy documentation. However, we found their privacy notice too often uses vague language and statements that lack clarity leaving us feeling uncertain and uneasy about the explanation of their privacy practices.



Does the product use AI?
information

Yes

Tesla’s driver-assistance system, known as Autopilot, is equipped with eight external cameras and vision processing to provide assistance to a driver. It helps with such tasks as autoparking, summon in a tight space, lane change - or even "full self-driving capability', which is in Beta version now, and includes traffic and stop sign control: "identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your car to a stop on approach, with your active supervision."
Is this AI untrustworthy?

Yes
What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?

Regulating speed, steering and deciding the driving actions for a driver.
Is the company transparent about how the AI works?

No
Tesla is under an investigation in California over its Autopilot safety issues and false advertisement. https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/26/23809183/tesla-autopilot-investigation-false-advertising-california-attorney-general Tesla's toll reportedly includes 17 fatalities and 736 crashes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/10/tesla-autopilot-crashes-elon-musk/ “Tesla should offer customers the option to receive a full refund of Autopilot features if they are unsatisfied with the product,” said a Tesla customer, who was contacted by the AG’s office after filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/26/tesla-under-investigation-by-california-attorney-general.html
Does the user have control over the AI features?

No