Tesla whistleblower has leaked 100GB of data giving out confidential information to a German media outlet called Handlesblatt. The publication named this leak “My autopilot almost killed me: Tesla files cast doubt on Elon Musk’s promises." He revealed details of thousands of serious complaints raised by consumers against the safety of Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) features.
Tesla data leak
The data reveals Tesla customers filed 2,400 self-acceleration issues and 1,500 braking problems including 139 reports of “unintentional emergency braking” and 383 reports of “phantom stops” from false collision warnings. They were filed across the US, Europe and Asia spanning from 2015 to March 22.
In the complaints, the description included issues like “suddenly brake or accelerate abruptly”. Many revealed that the drivers safely gained control while others “ended up in a ditch, hit walls or crashed into oncoming vehicles”.
The report revealed how Tesla's policies handle such complaints.
“For each incident there are bullet points for the “technical review”. The employees who enter this review into the system regularly make it clear that the report is “for internal use only”. Each entry also contains the note in bold print that information, if at all, may only be passed on “VERBALLY to the customer”.
“Do not copy and paste the report below into an email, text message, or leave it in a voicemail to the customer,” it said. Vehicle data should also not be released without permission. If, despite the advice, “an involvement of a lawyer cannot be prevented”, this must be recorded.”
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Responding to the leak, Tesla wrote a letter to the publication. The EV maker did not say anything about the claims made in the data. It states, “We continue to investigate the circumstances alleged in your email. To date, we have reason to believe that a disgruntled ex-employee (…) right before he left Tesla, misused his access as a service technician to exfiltrate information in violation of his signed non-disclosure agreement, Tesla’s data management policies and practices, and EU and German law.”
The Elon Musk-owned company even said that it will initiate legal proceedings against the whistleblower for theft of Tesla's confidential information and employees’ personal data. It further read:
“As you know, the use of illegally obtained data for media reporting is not allowed absent exceptional circumstances. The possession of such data itself without proper justification breaches, among other things, data protection law. And mishandling this information subjects recipient, such as Handelsblatt, to liability for violation of trade secrets, data protection law, and handling stolen data, among other things. Any such sensitive data in your possession also requires you to protect it carefully against further misappropriation. To this end, please send us a copy of this information, immediately delete all other copies, and confirm with us that you’ve done so.”
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