Tesla has made the settings of its built-in security cameras in cars more privacy-friendly. The carmaker did this after the Dutch Personal Data Authority (AP) objected to Tesla's so-called 'Sentry Mode'. This setting is supposed to protect the car from theft or vandalism, for example. It does this by taking images with four cameras on the outside of the car.
By default, when Sentry Mode was enabled, the cameras continuously filmed everything around a parked Tesla and stored one hour of footage each time. AP board member Katja Mur: 'Passers-by were filmed without their knowledge. The owner of the Tesla could watch that footage back. If he parked the car in front of someone's window, he could peek in and see what the person was doing.'
Due to software updates, the cameras are now off by default. And if the user does turn them on, they store up to 10 minutes of footage. Sentry Mode will now only come into action when the car is touched. And not as soon as the cameras see any 'suspicious' movement around the car. Also, at such a moment, the car will not start filming by default, but the owner will only receive a text message on the phone.
The car can still take camera images, but only when the user enables that feature themselves. When the cameras capture images, the car indicates this on the screen. The headlights then also give a special light signal. This way, people know they are being filmed.
Incidentally, Tesla escaped a fine or other sanction. In fact, during the investigation, it turned out that not Tesla, but the owner of the car is legally responsible for the images the car takes.