Previous versions of Tesla’s North American owners manual for the Model 3 and Model Y said that “to protect your privacy, cabin camera images and video clips transmitted to Tesla servers … are not associated with your Vehicle Identification Number.” (Tesla’s “cabin camera” films inside the vehicle to determine driver inattentiveness, according to Tesla, and must be uncovered for drivers to use “full self-driving.”)
But Tesla’s latest manuals for those vehicles delete the reference to protecting drivers’ privacy by not linking video clips to a vehicle identification number (VIN). While it’s not clear if Tesla is currently making such links, the change to the manuals leaves the door open for this possibility.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment and generally does not engage with the professional news media.
Tesla’s apparent privacy rollbacks also extend to tracking where owners drive their vehicles.
Tesla’s privacy website says: “Your location history, is history. Where you go says a lot about you. Unless there is a serious safety concern like an accident, Tesla doesn’t associate your location with your account, or keep a history of where you’ve been.”
Tesla won’t be taking such measures with “full self-driving.” The automaker emailed its roughly 1,000 new “full self-driving” users this month and said “your vehicle has automatically opted into VIN associated telemetry sharing with Tesla, including Autopilot usage data, images and/or video,” according to a copy of the email viewed by CNN Business.
The software “may do the wrong thing at the worst time,” Tesla has cautioned owners who install “full self-driving,” so drivers must keep their eyes on the road.
The automaker continues to acknowledge privacy risks that come with tying data to a vehicle identification number in other contexts.
Tesla captures voice recordings in its vehicles, in order to improve the vehicles’ ability to recognize voice commands, the company says in its latest owners’ manuals. But Tesla says it doesn’t associate these recordings with a vehicle’s identification number to protect people’s privacy.
Privacy experts have long cautioned that location data is extremely sensitive because of the potential to track people’s movements.
Caitlin Cottrill, who researches technology and transportation data at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said that Tesla consumers could use more of an explanation of the privacy implications of opting in to “full self-driving.”
“I would expect more information on how VIN-associated data will be shared with others,” said Cottrill, noting that Tesla’s privacy notice describes sharing information with third parties. “Currently, there’s not much detail.”