BTW, Yes, the AP cameras record things and upload them to Tesla servers, such as this video I extracted from the flash memory of a wrecked Tesla: https://youtu.be/KEM0GF42W0Q
(Here's what the car looked like when I got it: https://youtu.be/f2llZL3_XFE) On Thu, Apr 6, 2023 at 10:56 AM (-Phil-) <p...@ingineerix.com> wrote: > Original article, Paywalled, but they let you read 4: > https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/04/06/tesla-employees-reportedly-shared-sensitive-photos-of-owners-taken-by-car-cameras > > On Thu, Apr 6, 2023 at 10:44 AM Rod Hower via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> > wrote: > >> Special Report: Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by >> customer cars >> Private camera recordings, captured by cars, were shared in chat rooms: >> ex-workersCirculated clips included one of child being hit by car: >> ex-employeesTesla says recordings made by vehicle cameras ‘remain >> anonymous’One video showed submersible vehicle from James Bond film, owned >> by Elon MuskLONDON/SAN FRANCISCO, April 6 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc assures its >> millions of electric car owners that their privacy “is and will always be >> enormously important to us.” The cameras it builds into vehicles to assist >> driving, it notes on its website, are “designed from the ground up to >> protect your privacy.” >> But between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared via >> an internal messaging system sometimes highly invasive videos and images >> recorded by customers’ car cameras, according to interviews by Reuters with >> nine former employees. >> Advertisement · Scroll to continueSome of the recordings caught Tesla >> customers in embarrassing situations. One ex-employee described a video of >> a man approaching a vehicle completely naked. >> Also shared: crashes and road-rage incidents. One crash video in 2021 >> showed a Tesla driving at high speed in a residential area hitting a child >> riding a bike, according to another ex-employee. The child flew in one >> direction, the bike in another. The video spread around a Tesla office in >> San Mateo, California, via private one-on-one chats, “like wildfire,” the >> ex-employee said. >> Other images were more mundane, such as pictures of dogs and funny road >> signs that employees made into memes by embellishing them with amusing >> captions or commentary, before posting them in private group chats. While >> some postings were only shared between two employees, others could be seen >> by scores of them, according to several ex-employees. >> Tesla states in its online “Customer Privacy Notice” that its “camera >> recordings remain anonymous and are not linked to you or your vehicle.” But >> seven former employees told Reuters the computer program they used at work >> could show the location of recordings – which potentially could reveal >> where a Tesla owner lived. >> One ex-employee also said that some recordings appeared to have been made >> when cars were parked and turned off. Several years ago, Tesla would >> receive video recordings from its vehicles even when they were off, if >> owners gave consent. It has since stopped doing so. >> “We could see inside people's garages and their private properties,” said >> another former employee. “Let's say that a Tesla customer had something in >> their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds >> of things.” >> Tesla didn't respond to detailed questions sent to the company for this >> report. >> About three years ago, some employees stumbled upon and shared a video of >> a unique submersible vehicle parked inside a garage, according to two >> people who viewed it. Nicknamed “Wet Nellie,” the white Lotus Esprit sub >> had been featured in the 1977 James Bond film, “The Spy Who Loved Me.” >> The vehicle’s owner: Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who had bought it >> for about $968,000 at an auction in 2013. It is not clear whether Musk was >> aware of the video or that it had been shared. >> Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment. >> To report this story, Reuters contacted more than 300 former Tesla >> employees who had worked at the company over the past nine years and were >> involved in developing its self-driving system. More than a dozen agreed to >> answer questions, all speaking on condition of anonymity. >> Reuters wasn’t able to obtain any of the shared videos or images, which >> ex-employees said they hadn’t kept. The news agency also wasn’t able to >> determine if the practice of sharing recordings, which occurred within some >> parts of Tesla as recently as last year, continues today or how widespread >> it was. Some former employees contacted said the only sharing they observed >> was for legitimate work purposes, such as seeking assistance from >> colleagues or supervisors. >> LABELING PEDESTRIANS AND STREET SIGNSThe sharing of sensitive videos >> illustrates one of the less-noted features of artificial intelligence >> systems: They often require armies of human beings to help train machines >> to learn automated tasks such as driving. >> Since about 2016, Tesla has employed hundreds of people in Africa and >> later the United States to label images to help its cars learn how to >> recognize pedestrians, street signs, construction vehicles, garage doors >> and other objects encountered on the road or at customers’ houses. To >> accomplish that, data labelers were given access to thousands of videos or >> images recorded by car cameras that they would view and identify objects. >> Tesla increasingly has been automating the process, and shut down a >> data-labeling hub last year in San Mateo, California. But it continues to >> employ hundreds of data labelers in Buffalo, New York. In February, Tesla >> said the staff there had grown 54% over the previous six months to 675. >> Two ex-employees said they weren’t bothered by the sharing of images, >> saying that customers had given their consent or that people long ago had >> given up any reasonable expectation of keeping personal data private. Three >> others, however, said they were troubled by it. >> “It was a breach of privacy, to be honest. And I always joked that I >> would never buy a Tesla after seeing how they treated some of these >> people,” said one former employee. >> Another said: “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 former employee saw nothing wrong with sharing images, but described >> a function that allowed data labelers to view the location of recordings on >> Google Maps as a “massive invasion of privacy.” >> David Choffnes, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy >> Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, called sharing of sensitive >> videos and images by Tesla employees “morally reprehensible.” >> “Any normal human being would be appalled by this,” he said. He noted >> that circulating sensitive and personal content could be construed as a >> violation of Tesla’s own privacy policy — potentially resulting in >> intervention by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which enforces federal >> laws relating to consumers’ privacy. >> A spokesperson for the FTC said it doesn’t comment on individual >> companies or their conduct. >> To develop self-driving car technology, Tesla collects a vast trove of >> data from its global fleet of several million vehicles. The company >> requires car owners to grant permission on the cars’ touchscreens before >> Tesla collects their vehicles’ data. “Your Data Belongs to You,” states >> Tesla’s website. >> In its Customer Privacy Notice, Tesla explains that if a customer agrees >> to share data, “your vehicle may collect the data and make it available to >> Tesla for analysis. This analysis helps Tesla improve its products, >> features, and diagnose problems quicker.” It also states that the data may >> include “short video clips or images,” but isn’t linked to a customer’s >> account or vehicle identification number, “and does not identify you >> personally.” >> Carlo Piltz, a data privacy lawyer in Germany, told Reuters it would be >> difficult to find a legal justification under Europe’s data protection and >> privacy law for vehicle recordings to be circulated internally when it has >> “nothing to do with the provision of a safe or secure car or the >> functionality” of Tesla's self-driving system. >> In recent years, Tesla’s car-camera system has drawn controversy. In >> China, some government compounds and residential neighborhoods have banned >> Teslas because of concerns about its cameras. In response, Musk said in a >> virtual talk at a Chinese forum in 2021: “If Tesla used cars to spy in >> China or anywhere, we will get shut down.” >> Elsewhere, regulators have scrutinized the Tesla system over potential >> privacy violations. But the privacy cases have tended to focus not on the >> rights of Tesla owners but of passers-by unaware that they might be being >> recorded by parked Tesla vehicles. >> In February, the Dutch Data Protection Authority, or DPA, said it had >> concluded an investigation of Tesla over possible privacy violations >> regarding “Sentry Mode,” a feature designed to record any suspicious >> activity when a car is parked and alert the owner. >> “People who walked by these vehicles were filmed without knowing it. And >> the owners of the Teslas could go back and look at these images,” said DPA >> board member Katja Mur in a statement. “If a person parked one of these >> vehicles in front of someone’s window, they could spy inside and see >> everything the other person was doing. That is a serious violation of >> privacy.” >> The watchdog determined it wasn’t Tesla, but the vehicles’ owners, who >> were legally responsible for their cars’ recordings. It said it decided not >> to fine the company after Tesla said it had made several changes to Sentry >> Mode, including having a vehicle’s headlights pulse to inform passers-by >> that they may be being recorded. >> A DPA spokesperson declined to comment on Reuters findings, but said in >> an email: “Personal data must be used for a specific purpose, and sensitive >> personal data must be protected.” >> REPLACING HUMAN DRIVERS >> Tesla calls its automated driving system Autopilot. Introduced in 2015, >> the system included such advanced features as allowing drivers to change >> lanes by tapping a turn signal and parallel parking on command. To make the >> system work, Tesla initially installed sonar sensors, radar and a single >> front-facing camera at the top of the windshield. A subsequent version, >> introduced in 2016, included eight cameras all around the car to collect >> more data and offer more capabilities. >> Musk’s future vision is eventually to offer a “Full Self-Driving” mode >> that would replace a human driver. Tesla began rolling out an experimental >> version of that mode in October 2020. Although it requires drivers to keep >> their hands on the wheel, it currently offers such features as the ability >> to slow a car down automatically when it approaches stop signs or traffic >> lights. >> Tesla's Autopilot system >> TESLAThis excerpt from the owner’s manual for the Tesla Model X explains >> the car’s Autopilot system, including the cameras that record video of the >> vehicle’s surroundings. Reuters found that Tesla employees shared clips >> that captured sensitive and embarrassing personal moments.In February, >> Tesla recalled more than 362,000 U.S. vehicles to update their Full >> Self-Driving software after the National Highway Traffic Safety >> Administration said it could allow vehicles to exceed speed limits and >> potentially cause crashes at intersections. >> As with many artificial-intelligence projects, to develop Autopilot, >> Tesla hired data labelers to identify objects in images and videos to teach >> the system how to respond when the vehicle was on the road or parked. >> Tesla initially outsourced data labeling to a San Francisco-based >> non-profit then known as Samasource, people familiar with the matter told >> Reuters. The organization had an office in Nairobi, Kenya, and specialized >> in offering training and employment opportunities to disadvantaged women >> and youth. >> In 2016, Samasource was providing about 400 workers there for Tesla, up >> from about an initial 20, according to a person familiar with the matter. >> By 2019, however, Tesla was no longer satisfied with the work of >> Samasource’s data labelers. At an event called Tesla AI Day in 2021, Andrej >> Karpathy, then senior director of AI at Tesla, said: “Unfortunately, we >> found very quickly that working with a third party to get data sets for >> something this critical was just not going to cut it … Honestly the quality >> was not amazing.” >> A former Tesla emp loyee said of the Samasource labelers: “They would >> highlight fi re hydrants as pedestrians … They would miss objects all the >> time. Their skill level to draw boxes was very low.” >> Samasource, now called Sama, declined to comment on its work for Tesla. >> Tesla decided to bring data labeling in-house. “Over time, we’ve grown to >> more than a 1,000-person data labeling (organization) that is full of >> professional labelers who are working very closely with the engineers,” >> Karpathy said in his August 2021 presentation. >> Karpathy didn’t respond to requests for comment. >> Tesla’s own data labelers initially worked in the San Francisco Bay area, >> including the office in San Mateo. Groups of data labelers were assigned a >> variety of different tasks, including labeling street lane lines or >> emergency vehicles, ex-employees said. >> At one point, Teslas on Autopilot were having difficulty backing out of >> garages and would get confused when encountering shadows or objects such as >> garden hoses. So some data labelers were asked to identify objects in >> videos recorded inside garages. The problem eventually was solved. >> In interviews, two former employees said in their normal work duties they >> were sometimes asked to view images of customers in and around their homes, >> including inside garages. >> “I sometimes wondered if these people know that we're seeing that,” said >> one. >> “I saw some scandalous stuff sometimes, you know, like I did see scenes >> of intimacy but not nudity,” said another. “And there was just definitely a >> lot of stuff that like, I wouldn't want anybody to see about my life.” >> As an example, this person recalled seeing “embarrassing objects,” such >> as “certain pieces of laundry, certain sexual wellness items … and just >> private scenes of life that we really were privy to because the car was >> charging.” >> MEMES IN THE SAN MATEO OFFICE >> Tesla staffed its San Mateo office with mostly young workers, in their >> 20s and early 30s, who brought with them a culture that prized entertaining >> memes and viral online content. Former staffers described a free-wheeling >> atmosphere in chat rooms with workers exchanging jokes about images they >> viewed while labeling. >> According to several ex-employees, some labelers shared screenshots, >> sometimes marked up using Adobe Photoshop, in private group chats on >> Mattermost, Tesla’s internal messaging system. There they would attract >> responses from other workers and managers. Participants would also add >> their own marked-up images, jokes or emojis to keep the conversation going. >> Some of the emojis were custom-created to reference office inside jokes, >> several ex-employees said. >> One former labeler described sharing images as a way to “break the >> monotony.” Another described how the sharing won admiration from peers. >> “If you saw something cool that would get a reaction, you post it, right, >> and then later, on break, people would come up to you and say, ‘Oh, I saw >> what you posted. That was funny,’” said this former labeler. “People who >> got promoted to lead positions shared a lot of these funny items and gained >> notoriety for being funny.” >> Some of the shared content resembled memes on the internet. There were >> dogs, interesting cars, and clips of people recorded by Tesla cameras >> tripping and falling. There was also disturbing content, such as someone >> being dragged into a car seemingly against their will, said one ex-employee. >> Video clips of crashes involving Teslas were also sometimes shared in >> private chats on Mattermost, several former employees said. Those included >> examples of people driving badly or collisions involving people struck >> while riding bikes – such as the one with the child – or a motorcycle. Some >> data labelers would rewind such clips and play them in slow motion. >> At times, Tesla managers would crack down on inappropriate sharing of >> images on public Mattermost channels since they claimed the practice >> violated company policy. Still, screenshots and memes based on them >> continued to circulate through private chats on the platform, several >> ex-employees said. Workers shared them one-on-one or in small groups as >> recently as the middle of last year. >> One of the perks of working for Tesla as a data labeler in San Mateo was >> the chance to win a prize – use of a company car for a day or two, >> according to two former employees. >> But some of the lucky winners became paranoid when driving the electric >> cars. >> “Knowing how much data those vehicles are capable of collecting >> definitely made folks nervous," one ex-employee said. >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: < >> http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20230406/babe977c/attachment.htm >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org >> No other addresses in TO and CC fields >> HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ >> >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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