Tesla is facing a class action suit for invasion of privacy, including revelations about employees sharing sensitive footage internally from cameras fitted to the brand’s vehicles.
Electric cars from Elon Musk’s company are equipped with multiple sensors, including cameras, to guide driving-assistance tools, says the complaint filed on Friday by Henry Yeh, a California owner of a Model Y, and viewed by French news agency AFP on Monday.
Employees accessed the footage not for the stated purpose of communicating, providing services, and improving the driving systems of Tesla vehicles, but for “the tasteless and tortious entertainment” of Tesla employees, and possibly people outside the company, the document says, relying on testimony reported on Thursday by Reuters.
Employees thus released “recordings of Tesla customers in private and embarrassing situations, such as a video of a man approaching a Tesla vehicle completely naked, videos of accidents or assaults on the road,” according to the plaintiff.
It is also possible to determine where the videos were taken, making it possible to identify the owner of the vehicle, contrary to the company’s claim, the complaint argues.
The plaintiff, who accuses Tesla of invasion of privacy, breach of consumer law, breach of contract and negligence, among other things, is seeking compensation.
Tesla did not respond to an AFP request for comment, the French news agency reported.
