Protecting Your Data and Privacy: Opting Out with your Tesla

Welcome to opt-out. A semi-regular column that will help you navigate online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The final column covered ways to protect the privacy of your phone and data at the US border. If you would like to skip to a section for specific tips, click on the “Jump to Jump” menu at the top of this article.

When you press the button, Tesla will use a feature called Summon to pull you out of the parking lot that is not behind the wheels. Use autopilot to drive yourself on the highway. Once you arrive at your destination, a feature called Sentry mode allows you to record nearby activities while parked.

To effectively operate any of these functions, your vehicle will need to monitor and collect large amounts of data about you. Most Tesla vehicles are equipped with nine internal and external cameras. Information from Tesla, delivered via location trackers, sensors, and more, can draw complex pictures of your life and movements.

“Teslas is truly a surveillance platform,” said John Davisson, senior advisor and litigation director at the Digital Rights Research Group’s Center for Electronic Privacy Information. “There are some privacy safeguards Tesla offers, which allows you to opt out of data sharing if Tesla actually follows those commitments, at least in terms of settings.”

Tesla does not only collect a substantial amount of data to enable a range of advanced features in the vehicle. Connected cars collect some information to work. Given the role of CEO Elon Musk in the Donald Trump administration, some Tesla owners are renewed interest.

These concerns are not entirely unfounded, according to Reem Suleiman, advocacy director for the Mozilla Foundation, who gave Tesla “no privacy.” Grade year In assessing the data security practices of automobile manufacturers. First, the company’s track record of protecting user data is unstable. 2023, a A Reuters investigation found Employees were sharing sensitive footage shot by the vehicle at the internal messaging forum. a Washington Post Analysis Of the transparency report published by Twitter, after Musk took over similarly, X acquiesced to X’s 20% government demands to remove content in the first half of 2024.

We spoke with privacy experts, consulted Tesla’s privacy policy, and asked Tesla’s own AI chatbot how to share the smallest amount of data with Tesla as much as possible. If you own a Tesla, you should take every precaution you can and in many cases you should take with your vehicle. However, more information: Adjust these settings to shut off access to many of the car’s features to share minimal data with Tesla.

“They say that if you choose to opt out of data collection, your car is essentially lemon,” Suleiman said. “They basically say that your vehicle can reduce functionality, serious damage, or impossibility. So, when you think about it, it’s kind of non-selection.”

Here’s what you need to know about your Tesla vehicle privacy:

What information does your Tesla gather about you?

Tesla’s privacy policy details the wide range of data the vehicle collects. Most of it is stored locally, but will also be sent to the company unless you change your settings.

According to Tesla’s AI chatbot, the information collected with you includes: “Location data (Tesla does not record or store vehicle-specific GPS information except in the case of a crash); driving habits and behaviors (speed, brake patterns, acceleration, etc.); diagnostic and vehicle usage data (Tesla product and services data and voice data and automobile) data (camera records, sensor measurements and other inputs to support advanced safety features).

The good news is that if you opt out of sharing information with the company, you can collect and store data on your vehicle’s local drive. The bad news is that law enforcement agencies have access to data if they get a vehicle in any way during a traffic stop or other situation, according to Davisson of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

And it’s not just your car that collects information. The Tesla mobile app, which allows you to activate or summon Sentry mode, also collects location, contacts, browsing and device information. Read how to dial back how much your car is monitoring you.

Who does Tesla share your data with?

If you choose to share your data with Tesla, all data it collects may be shared with third parties, including law enforcement. In addition to sharing data with law enforcement when the company receives a valid court order, Tesla also shares data when it is “essential to protect national security or public safety,” according to the company’s privacy policy. Davisson says the language is ambiguous and opens the door to sharing video footage with law enforcement for many reasons. Recently, for example, the FBI has classified vandalism in Tesla vehicles and showrooms as “.Domestic Terrorism”.

“It’s a very short hop to think of immigration enforcement as a security issue that requires constant sharing, especially now, when everything is clearly a national emergency. Davisson is in real-time footage of ice and other law enforcement officers. “And that’s a horrible situation.”

So how do you protect your data?

Consider other vehicles

When it comes to privacy, everyone has a different risk profile. Some people may be more concerned than others about who has access to their personal information. Tesla’s exterior cameras can also collect footage of people around the vehicle, so it’s not just your own privacy that you need to be aware of.

If you’re worried about gathering information and don’t have a Tesla yet, privacy experts say you should choose a different car. If you have and want to regain your privacy, sell it. Even Tesla’s AI chatbots gave similar advice.

“If someone is deeply concerned about their privacy, they may consider alternatives such as: choosing a vehicle manufacturer with more restrictive data collection practices than 1 (this may be at the cost of reducing convenient features).

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Reset your car at the factory before selling

So you already bought a Tesla and you decided to sell it. Suleiman and the Mozilla Foundation strongly recommend that you receive your car in the factory before you do so. This means your car will wipe out all its data, as if it’s off the lot.

“Just because you sold a car doesn’t mean you scrub your data,” Suleiman said. “That requires a bit of due diligence.”

Therefore, before you remove the vehicle from your Tesla account, you will need to factory reset your vehicle from your vehicle’s settings. Sit in the driver’s seat and follow these steps:

1 Go to Controls > Services > Factory Reset.

2 Enter your Tesla account username and password to confirm your credentials.

3 Make sure you perform a factory reset.

“This will erase all your personal data, including saved addresses, music favorites, imported contacts, and restore your car settings to factory defaults,” according to Tesla’s AI chatbot. The company also recommends removing “Homelink” devices. This allows you to control things like garage doors, lights, or home security systems from Tesla. You can click the Homelink icon at the top of the Controls screen to go to Homelink Settings and delete connections to other devices.

How to share the minimum amount of data with Tesla

In the vehicle and Tesla app settings, you can choose not to share your data with your company. But like I said before, be prepared to lose functionality in your car.

Opting out of data sharing in your car is pretty easy. In the vehicle,[設定]>[ソフトウェア]>[データ共有]Go to. Turn off Allow data sharing. This disables analysis, road segments, diagnostics, and sharing of vehicle usage data. Tesla’s AI chatbot recommended turning off the “Allow Autopilot Analytics” off to stop sharing of autopilot-related data.

Opt out of mobile app locations and data sharing. In the Tesla app, you will be taken to Settings (the button looks like three horizontal lines or gear icons). Next, scroll down to Security and Privacy. after that Select Turn off the location service. click Turn off analytics and stop sharing app usage data with your company. Next, revoke access to your camera, microphone, and contacts.

“By following these steps, you’ll be sharing the minimum amount of data with Tesla, while enjoying the core functionality and functionality of your mobile app,” according to Tesla AI Chatbot.

However, this will affect the functioning of your car. According to Tesla’s chatbots, data sharing affects these features.

< Source: www.theguardian.com