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Wow, this sounds especially egregious. 1. The language is not far from "this car might kill you if you don't let us collect data." 2. I can't see a technical
by bo1024 8y ago
Wow, this sounds especially egregious.
1. The language is not far from "this car might kill you if you don't let us collect data."
2. I can't see a technical reason that opting out of telemetry means opting out of software updates --- it just seems like a cynical disincentive.
(I was already very critical of Tesla for Stallman-esque reasons, but this particularly stands out.)
- BillinghamJ 8y agoYeah... at least in the EU, that doesn't sound compatible with GDPR.
- zaroth 8y ago“Telemetry” in this case is the entire uplink functionality. You are severing the entire connection with the mothership, so of course you lose all the cloud functionality that goes with it. I actually really like that they offer the option to run the car totally dark. Of course you don’t get your GPS maps, or streaming radio, or software updates in that case. I would assume software updates could still be installed by a service tech using a direct connection if the remote uplink is severed. Obviously automatic updates are a non-starter for a system which you are not connected to. Keep in mind this opt-out is separate from the auto-pilot opt-in which lets your share short video clips and associated sensor data with Tesla to help them improve their lane tracking and feature detection algorithms.
- Scoundreller 8y agoGPS maps themselves don’t require any uploading. Not sure how Tesla’s implementation works. It would be smart if they cached as much map data as possible while over wifi to save them OTA data charges.
- zaroth 8y agoThis is indeed how it works. Search functionality (POIs) is greatly enhanced with internet access and you also get real-time traffic with more accurate ETAs.
- bo1024 8y agoThanks for the clarification. I think the wording can be much more clear and neutral. As a sidenote, I guess it's just a sad reality that 'automatic updates' are phrased as necessary for safety on a car... this implies Tesla originally shipped a broken / dangerous system (or at least a high enough chance of that to include this language).
- zaroth 8y agoI mean this is what happens when lawyers write your terms. An update could increase safety, therefore a delayed update could result in death. For example Model 3 got an update which reduced its stopping distance under heavy braking. If you don’t get this update in real-time and instead don’t see it until your next service interval, that’s a time period where your car was actually less safe than other Model 3s in the road. Other than tire rotation, the maintenance schedule for the Model 3 is check brake fluid every 2 years and replace as needed, and once every 4 years or 50K miles to change the battery coolant. You could easily go 4 years without bringing the car in to Tesla for service.
- userbinator 8y agoAn update could also decrease safety. There's been ample discussion about their "autopilot" whose behaviour changed significantly enough between updates, and in a bad way, that owners noticed.
- xkcd-sucks 8y agoIs there any legal precedent for considering ota update pushes as admission of guilt
- CaptainZapp 8y agoOr in other words: "Nice car you have here Would be a shame if something happens to it"