Teslas monitor everything – including you [video] from WIRED

Pervasive in‑car surveillance, not just Tesla

• Multiple brands now ship cars with interior cameras, facial recognition, telemetry, and connectivity feeding data back to manufacturers.
• People expect a future of ads, subscriptions, and behavioral profiling across most new cars, not just one brand.
• Some point to existing patents and early deployments of in‑car advertising and data resale to insurers as evidence this is already underway.

Tesla‑specific risks and CEO distrust

• Several commenters argue Teslas are uniquely risky because of the CEO’s political behavior, rule‑breaking, and close ties to government, raising fears of misuse (e.g., employment consequences, state surveillance, “kompromat”).
• Recent changes that let parked Teslas act as outward‑facing surveillance devices are seen as especially alarming, akin to Ring doorbells but mobile and ubiquitous.

Driver monitoring vs spying

• One camp: driver attention monitoring is normal, safety‑critical, and effectively required for advanced driver‑assist systems; this will be universal in new cars.
• Counterpoint: local, in‑car monitoring for safety is acceptable; continuous uploading of detailed data to the manufacturer is not.
• The new use of interior radar to monitor presence and vital signs feels like a line‑crossing escalation, with fears it will inevitably be abused.

Regulation and jurisdiction (EU vs US)

• EU-style data protection (GDPR) is credited with limiting exactly the “CEO can do anything with your data” scenario and as a reason tech billionaires resent the EU.
• Others note GDPR enforcement is imperfect (cookie banner dark patterns), but still a meaningful constraint versus the US “FAFO” approach where harms come first, regulation later.
• How fully EU protections apply to Tesla’s practices remains raised but not answered; overall impact is described as significant but not absolute.

Surveillance everywhere & public transport

• Many note corporations have tracked people for decades (credit bureaus, loyalty cards, smartphones). Car telemetry is seen as a continuation, not a novelty.
• Some suggest public or active transport (buses, bikes) as partial alternatives, but others point out buses and trains are heavily surveilled too (CCTV, smart cards), and that privacy there hinges on ticketing design and data retention rules.

Coping strategies and reactions

• Practical hacks: camera covers for interior cameras; speculation about shielding radar, though that may affect car operation.
• Ethically, several blame proprietary “black box” hardware with always‑on networking; free/open software advocates are cited as having warned about this outcome for decades.
• Emotional responses range from anger and boycott calls to dark humor and schadenfreude toward those surprised by these capabilities.