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Ask HN: Why isn't Tesla's Sentry system raising more privacy concerns?
I just learned about Tesla's new Sentry system (in brief, it auto-records video when someone is approaching the vehicle, as a theft deterrent). I understand that the US is way more lax about issues of privacy (e.g. CCTV systems) compared, say, with the EU and UK. But this is a pretty big deal. Not dissimilar with Ring cameras, but at least (in the common case) for Ring cameras one may need to be actually within someone's private property to be in the recording. Here, our faces are recorded if e.g. you are parked next to a Tesla and getting to our own car.
What happens to those recordings? Are they time-limited? Are people's faces blurred out (doesn't look like it)? Many questions here.
Thoughts?
- gibolt 7y agoYou have to be in very close physical proximity for a recording to occur. Most recordings that close will be benign. It is worth considering the privacy implications, but it isn't equivalent to a fixed security camera recording and storing everything that happens in a broad area.
- aloukissas 7y agoFrom what I see on YT, "very close" is parked right next to a Tesla in a lot. But yeah, many home cameras record everyone passing by on the sidewalk. Sadly, the US has next to zero privacy protections.
- jfoster 7y agoUnless you damage the car, the owner is probably going to be fairly uninterested in the footage, and it will probably get overwritten.
- aurizon 7y agoIf that person is close enough to the car for it to detect and record, it is much like someone entering your 'personal space' at which you tend to be alert. Now people walking down the street - in the same direction do not invoke avoidance, but people travelling the other way - when you may walk into them are detected and avoided. Same with moving cars - in the same lane, going the same way = safer than coming at you in any close land - you will watch and avoid, so does the Tesla car
- aloukissas 7y agoSome of these worries would go away if Tesla did two easy things: (a) delete recordings in a few minutes if nothing bad was detected and (b) ensure these recordings aren't uploaded to the internet (similar to SD-backed dash cams).
- umeshunni 7y agoBoth of those things work against the use-case of these cameras, which is to prevent crimes against the car and its owner. > Delete recordings in a few minutes if nothing bad was detected The car doesn't detect if 'something bad' happens. If someone keys the car or spray paints it, it might be hours before the driver comes back and notices it. > ensure these recordings aren't uploaded to the internet (similar to SD-backed dash cams) The recordings are recorded to an SD drive (USB drive, actually - https://www.tesla.com/blog/sentry-mode-guarding-your-tesla https://www.tesla.com/blog/sentry-mode-guarding-your-tesla)
- aloukissas 7y agoOh- I missed that detail. I misunderstood that they were uploaded to the cloud for the owner to see remotely (e.g. what Ring does). Still, I'm not comfortable with this.
- Someone1234 7y agoThere's no reasonable expectation of privacy in public[0]. That's the law. In both the UK, US, and other countries. Otherwise normal tourist style photography would be unlawful. The face-blur thing is highly limited to using someone's likeness for commercial endorsements. A Tesla vehicle parked in public is therefore outside the scope of any privacy considerations because you have none on that context. None of this is Tesla specific. Every photo or video recording taken in public has exactly the same liberties. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy
- Nextgrid 7y agoThe recordings are stored locally on a USB drive in the car; there is no cloud-based “panopticon” like with Ring. I personally don’t have a problem with people having the recordings (both with cars and standard CCTV); it’s only a problem when a single entity like Ring has full access to all the recordings across the entire world.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 7y agoWhy would recording a public scene be a problem? Should we rather restrict the use of said recording, e.g to prevent its publishing?
- ezekg 7y agoWhat about dash cams? This is pretty much the same thing, no? There's nothing illegal about recording in public.