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Regarding the car itself, shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? The first thing I do before selling a phone or laptop is wipe or factory r

Regarding the car itself, shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? The first thing I do before selling a phone or laptop is wipe or factory reset it. We rented a car last week that had 11 paired Bluetooth devices and like 1400 entries in the phone book. I was kind of jealous because my Leaf only allows 3 devices. I wiped it all out before returning the car.

qball 8y ago
>Regarding the car itself, shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? The first thing I do before selling a phone or laptop is wipe or factory reset it. Sure, but considering that most users don't even know how to pair a device without step-by-step instructions, I find it highly unlikely that they'll understand the implications of the car reading and storing personal information provided by their phone much less how to delete it. And given that this is Tesla we're talking about, whose products directly encourage you to have your phone paired (more than any other car of its type), even more people would be affected than they would be from, say, a Leaf (where you don't have to do that, and where it's unlikely to be as easy as it is on a Tesla).
- cptskippy 8y ago
  > whose products directly encourage you to have your phone paired (more than any other car of its type) They do? The cars all come with wireless data, streaming, maps, and internet. In the Model 3, using your phone as a Key is done via BLE and doesn't involve pairing which is a sperate function. I would say they're indifferent to your phone but let you use it if you choose.
dboreham 8y ago
You would need some understanding of the device/car interaction to know this is necessary. For example you might assume that any SMS content the car displays is fetched in real time from the device.
TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
> shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? If the secondhand purchase was a general person-to-person sale, sure. If buying secondhand from a dealer, or the manufacturer, I'd be expecting some sort of refurbishment. At the minimum a proper detailed cleaned, full service, and software factory reset plus latest software upgrades at the relevant price-point.
- dustindiamond 8y ago
  Other car manufacturers call it ‘certified pre-owned’, or CPO.
  - chiph 8y ago
    The thoroughness of a CPO inspection/refurbishment can vary from "We did all 200 items the manufacturer specifies" to "We washed it". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f037K2Fr2FU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f037K2Fr2FU
    - misterdoubt 8y ago
      Well, as always, a certification is only as good as its certifier.
    - dustindiamond 8y ago
      Have anything I can read instead of sitting through 12 minutes of a talking head? If it is a true certified, the checklist (standarized by the manufacturer) will have to be signed off by a factory-certified technician, so there is a paper-trail.
      - ams6110 8y ago
        and we all know that a car dealer would never do something like sign off the checklist without actually having done the work. /s
CJefferson 8y ago
No, there is no responsibility with the previous owner. If I return a tesla, to tesla, its entirely reasonable, and in the UK at least a legal requirement, that they clear out my data before reselling it.
- mattmanser 8y ago
  What's this law you mention? While Tesla shouldn't be sending you other customer info (against GDPR), I'm not sure it would actually be their responsibility to wipe data, I thought it'd be the previous customer's. If there is a law covering it, I'd be interested to know it.
  - notahacker 8y ago
    The pre-GDPR UK Data Protection Act obliged companies to hold data for no longer than necessary and not to transfer it to other parties, and is generally interpreted as requiring companies to wipe drives of computers it's disposing of. Difficult to see how a repair outlet selling on a disk drive full of its client's data as a "refurbished computer" would be exempted from that
    - mattmanser 8y ago
      That's a massive stretch. Has this ever made court? I believe a court would find it was the owner's responsibility to wipe it, not Tesla's. Tesla didn't put it there. Sounds like you theory crafting rather than an actual law.
  - CJefferson 8y ago
    The GDPR doesn't say its my job to make sure my data doesn't get shared with other people. I think it would be a clear case myself.
perlgeek 8y ago
It looks like not even all Tesla models have a factory reset functionality: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/factory-reset https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/factory-reset
DennisP 8y ago
That's potentially difficult if the car is totaled.
JustSomeNobody 8y ago
Can you even factory reset a Tesla? I don't know, I don't own one. Just curious. If so, does it clear out data on car only or does it clear me out of Tesla's cloud as well?

qball 8y ago

>Regarding the car itself, shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? The first thing I do before selling a phone or laptop is wipe or factory reset it. Sure, but considering that most users don't even know how to pair a device without step-by-step instructions, I find it highly unlikely that they'll understand the implications of the car reading and storing personal information provided by their phone much less how to delete it. And given that this is Tesla we're talking about, whose products directly encourage you to have your phone paired (more than any other car of its type), even more people would be affected than they would be from, say, a Leaf (where you don't have to do that, and where it's unlikely to be as easy as it is on a Tesla).

cptskippy 8y ago
> whose products directly encourage you to have your phone paired (more than any other car of its type) They do? The cars all come with wireless data, streaming, maps, and internet. In the Model 3, using your phone as a Key is done via BLE and doesn't involve pairing which is a sperate function. I would say they're indifferent to your phone but let you use it if you choose.

dboreham 8y ago

You would need some understanding of the device/car interaction to know this is necessary. For example you might assume that any SMS content the car displays is fetched in real time from the device.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago

> shouldn't some responsibility lie with the previous owner? If the secondhand purchase was a general person-to-person sale, sure. If buying secondhand from a dealer, or the manufacturer, I'd be expecting some sort of refurbishment. At the minimum a proper detailed cleaned, full service, and software factory reset plus latest software upgrades at the relevant price-point.

dustindiamond 8y ago
Other car manufacturers call it ‘certified pre-owned’, or CPO.
- chiph 8y ago
  The thoroughness of a CPO inspection/refurbishment can vary from "We did all 200 items the manufacturer specifies" to "We washed it". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f037K2Fr2FU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f037K2Fr2FU
  - misterdoubt 8y ago
    Well, as always, a certification is only as good as its certifier.
  - dustindiamond 8y ago
    Have anything I can read instead of sitting through 12 minutes of a talking head? If it is a true certified, the checklist (standarized by the manufacturer) will have to be signed off by a factory-certified technician, so there is a paper-trail.
    - ams6110 8y ago
      and we all know that a car dealer would never do something like sign off the checklist without actually having done the work. /s

CJefferson 8y ago

No, there is no responsibility with the previous owner. If I return a tesla, to tesla, its entirely reasonable, and in the UK at least a legal requirement, that they clear out my data before reselling it.

mattmanser 8y ago
What's this law you mention? While Tesla shouldn't be sending you other customer info (against GDPR), I'm not sure it would actually be their responsibility to wipe data, I thought it'd be the previous customer's. If there is a law covering it, I'd be interested to know it.
- notahacker 8y ago
  The pre-GDPR UK Data Protection Act obliged companies to hold data for no longer than necessary and not to transfer it to other parties, and is generally interpreted as requiring companies to wipe drives of computers it's disposing of. Difficult to see how a repair outlet selling on a disk drive full of its client's data as a "refurbished computer" would be exempted from that
  - mattmanser 8y ago
    That's a massive stretch. Has this ever made court? I believe a court would find it was the owner's responsibility to wipe it, not Tesla's. Tesla didn't put it there. Sounds like you theory crafting rather than an actual law.
- CJefferson 8y ago
  The GDPR doesn't say its my job to make sure my data doesn't get shared with other people. I think it would be a clear case myself.

perlgeek 8y ago

It looks like not even all Tesla models have a factory reset functionality: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/factory-reset https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/factory-reset

DennisP 8y ago

That's potentially difficult if the car is totaled.

JustSomeNobody 8y ago

Can you even factory reset a Tesla? I don't know, I don't own one. Just curious. If so, does it clear out data on car only or does it clear me out of Tesla's cloud as well?