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Teslas monitor everything – including you [video] from WIRED
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoMany cars monitor the driver now, often with facial recognition enabled cameras. Mazda, infinity, Hyundai/genesis, others. It feels a bit like every brand will end up with invasive tech, ads, and subscriptions.
- palata 2y ago> It feels a bit like every brand will end up with invasive tech, ads, and subscriptions. It's bad enough as it is, and consumers should try and fight against that by not buying those cars. Especially now that we see that the CEO can turn fascist and feel entitled to do whatever he pleases with the data. How long before federal employees get fired because their Tesla showed that they arrived late to work? At the very least, don't buy Teslas. At this point that's probably one of the riskiest choices.
- pavlov 2y agoAmericans liked to laugh at Europe's data regulations, but they sure are effective at preventing this specific problem of "CEO can turn fascist and feel entitled to do whatever he pleases with the data." Which surely has some connection to why Musk (like many other Silicon Valley billionaires) hates the EU so much.
- NetOpWibby 2y agoAmerica adheres to the FAFO principle; fuck around and find out. Things tend to get demonstrably worse before it gets better. SIGH
- chneu 2y agoYou can always count on Americans to do the right thing; after they've tried everything else.
- DFHippie 2y agoGiven a long enough timeline you can count on anyone to do the right thing. It's the balance of right to wrong which is more interesting. By this measure I don't think Americans are particularly exceptional. Also, whether people choose to do the right thing is less interesting if they have no choice.
- chneu 2y agoThe quote means let americans fail because they'll get there eventually. After they've stubbornly tried everything else. American's believe we're exceptional and dont have to learn from others. We'll do it OUR WAY and it'll work. We'll force it if we have to. This isn't something most people are consciously aware of, but it's something you can notice if you start to look for.
- GJim 2y ago> Americans liked to laugh at Europe's data regulations They aren't laughing. On the contrary, the surveillance capitalists (many of which frequent this site) are vocal because they are spreading FUD. After all, sensible data protection laws affect their business models.
- palata 2y agoThe thing I don't get is that the fascists running the state still have the support of the people. It's amazing to see a country that loves seeing themselves as "kings of democracy" so much, while at the same time proving over and over again that they don't really understand democracy.
- DanielHB 2y agoRemember when all we worried about was when government was tracking/spying on you? With illegal phone wiretaps and hidden microphones. Good times... Now we have to worry about the government AND the big tech companies AND their crazy CEOs as the lines get blurred between the three.
- b112 2y agoUnless someone is 60, you don't know a time when companies haven't been spying on you. People were worried about Google in the early 2000s, after they bought doubleclick. There's nothing new here, except a continuous walk along the same path. Data collection was a big trend of the 80s. Credit bureaus and points cards were the big start. If you go into a forum about cars, you can see people asking about 5 or 6 years ago, to turn off telemetry in their cars. They are mocked relentlessly. Then the insurance issue came to light, where car companies were caught selling data without consent. Suddenly, everyone cared. Point is, the average person hasn't the time, or the inclination to understand, or even care... until it hurts them. Of course, by the time the hurting happens, it's too late... So give them pennies (point cards) and they'll be happy to be tracked. From what I've noticed in my life, many people are incapable of being aware of dangers, without perspective. Thus, to survive mentally, they must dismiss dangers they cannot control. They deride concerns, to protect themselves menrally. I'd say at least 50% of the population is like this.
- mdhb 2y agoThis isn’t normal. Hand waving it away as nothing like you seem to be doing here comes across as extremely weird I have to be honest.
- pasquinelli 2y agoi don't read it that way. i take it more they're saying the problem is broader than just tesla.
- fastball 2y agoThese are not fully autonomous systems and we live in a very litigious society. How do you propose these driverless / driver assist systems work?
- appointment 2y agoDriver attention monitoring is very normal and required for any car with significant Assisted Driving technology, which is likely to be all new cars soon. I expect safety scoring schemes like Euro NCAP continue to give AD systems higher and higher weights in their scores over time.
- fc417fc802 2y agoA deadly piece of equipment monitoring a safety critical part of the control system (ie the driver) is totally normal and expected. That same piece of equipment surreptitiously phoning home to the manufacturer with the data is the part that isn't acceptable. I want my car to monitor both me and the surroundings. I also want to be able to do things like speak in natural language to my phone, use my phone camera to OCR and translate documents from a foreign language, and all sorts of other 90s sci-fi stuff. Unfortunately the future we were graced with is a dystopian reality where all of this is built on proprietary black boxes that spy on you 24/7. And somehow the government takes no issue with this state of affairs, instead constructing their own data feeds.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y agoHow many is many? Are we talking 1% of all cars on the road? 0.1%?
- dambi0 2y agoGiven this is about new technologies or more accurately the potential misuse of new technology, I think we can infer we are talking newer models of cars rather than cars already on the road.
- hsuduebc2 2y agoEven if it would be one percent, eg. every hundreth car that can store IDs and car color of cars passing by then you'r movement could be tracked easily just by being spotted by teslas. Musk has shown he's not a man to be trusted.
- b112 2y agoMusk has shown he's not a man to be trusted. This cracks me up. You're only saying that because he's vocal, and you're aware of him daily. After all, I don't see people commenting on the other 1M CEO, nor aware of what they're doing right now, which do not post on X.
- dudefeliciano 2y agoThat is quite the assumption to make, how do you know why they think Musk is not to be trusted? There are many of us who have been saying this for years. And you have to admit, even for him his actions in the last year have been egregious. Also, just because you do not see people complaining about the other 1M CEOs doesn't mean they don't exist.
- hsuduebc2 2y agoMusk isn't untrustworthy just for being vocal. He has too much power and has shown he'll break rules or even the law when it suits him. Someone who is inherently political and wields this much influence without accountability should never be trusted. Being vocal is one thing but constantly attacking someone on x while spreading misinformation or straight up lies doesn't add to ones credibility either.
- _kb 2y agoFord already has a patent for that [1] and Jeep has already started doing it [2] “by accident”. [1]: https://au.pcmag.com/cars-auto/107185/ford-patents-in-car-advertising-system-that-listens-to-passenger-conversations https://au.pcmag.com/cars-auto/107185/ford-patents-in-car-ad... [2]: https://fortune.com/2025/02/13/jeep-in-car-ads-popup-stellantis-software-revenue/ https://fortune.com/2025/02/13/jeep-in-car-ads-popup-stellan...
- postmeta 2y agoit does help having video of virtuous people vandalizing your car to show the police
- gambiting 2y agoSure, but it has the same energy as saying it's worth having a camera in your living room recording 24/7(to the cloud) because any potential recording of burglars entering your house is worth having.
- Mashimo 2y agoYou say that, but people actually do that. I, for one, find it weird.
- lawn 2y agoIt's one thing if it's only recorded and stored locally on your machine and another if it's some private company with dubious history that records everything.
- eknkc 2y agoI have some cameras at home. Bought them to monitor the cats when we are away and they.. just stuck. I use Apple’s homekit secure video thing and the cameras are only set to record when nobody is home. Otherwise they are basically powered on 24/7. I guess it is weird but I kind of forget that they are there.
- danju 2y ago[dead]
- SideburnsOfDoom 2y agoIt's only worth powering those cameras up when you're going to be out of the house for a long period of time. Power them down on return.
- mnewme 2y agoblack mirror vibes.
- akimbostrawman 2y agono, reality of the car industry for over a decade.
- amelius 2y agoSmartTV vibes
- mg 2y agoI wonder if this is an argument for more public transport. Electric buses make rides pretty cheap and comfortable. And shifting traffic from personal cars to buses would make mobility much more efficient. Because in a bus, 30 people can cross a crossing so much faster than in a line of 30 individual cars. Would privacy also be better? Because the government is more trustworthy regarding the collection of movement data than private companies?
- TinkersW 2y agoNo, but it is an argument for making it illegal for car manufacturers to monitor you.
- roflmaostc 2y agoIn most cities going by bike is even faster. Ofc, it needs some effort to overcome weather, sweat. But at the end it pays off. Full privacy, free workouts, faster commute, being outside (getting sun, maybe fresh air). Invest in a good bike (maybe even eletric bike) and commute faster :)!
- agumonkey 2y agoIt's really a strange realization. If your health is fine.. and you don't live in smog.. biking is immensely beneficial. There's often multiple path to the same destination, shorter than main arteries, no traffic jam, no stress. I take my car twice a month and everytime I'm surprised by the effect of having to deal with all interruption and safety because we all drive 500-1000kg metallic buckets. It's quickly annoying.. that's a feeling you never have on bike. And no gas cost, near no insurance.. cheap repairs. So true, weather is an issue (but in a way it's fun to now look at the sky to see where the clouds are going), clothing too a bit. My only problem is that weak health quickly cut your ability to move far.
- dudefeliciano 2y agoOnly argument I have is the no stress part. I find myself stressed out more often than should be when riding a bike in the city due to careless car drivers.
- lnsru 2y agoOk, my old model Y has a camera inside to monitor me. 1€ AliExpress camera cover gave my privacy back. The new model y has a radar. So it will monitor not only my presence, but also my vital parameters as well as vital parameters of all passengers. No radar cover invented for that yet… it’s a bit too much. And since it’s already there it will be abused. That’s the path with all the technology.
- genewitch 2y agoAluminum foil ought work
- amelius 2y agoBut what if the car refuses to start without vital parameters?
- Ylpertnodi 2y agoA captcha on the driver window.
- lnsru 2y agoProbably not. Proper grounding and good shielding is needed. Eventually you can use conductive glue and attach the foil to the pcb (my guess is that Tesla uses low cost printed circuit board antenna, haven’t seen it yet) antenna directly messing its geometry and transmission characteristics.
- genewitch 2y agoyou don't need to ground it i don't think. it will just create a "hole" in the radar's vision. Imagine holding a dental mirror in front of your eyeball. you need a faraday cage to prevent any signal from getting in or out; but that's not the goal here. this is more like sticking a piece of tape on your laptop camera.
- stvltvs 2y agoDoes it have a microphone? I don't know the answer, but inside the car, I'd be more worried about capturing conversations than the camera.
- vinni2 2y agoIt’s a pity original link was not picked up. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43187724 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43187724
- squarefoot 2y agoAnd, following recent events, now every parked Tesla is also a potential surveillance device for the surrounding area, with direct connection to the US government, possibly through famous 3 letter agencies.
- ides_dev 2y agoWhy even bother with one of those crusty old 3-letter agencies, when you can go straight to the top via your very own 4-letter (1 better!) agency: D.O.G.E.
- anotherevan 2y agoFor efficiency, it should be referred to as an extended 3-letter agency.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y agoDebile overlords getting eager? DODGE that shit, lasso 'em in!
- shaunpud 2y agoWasn't this the same with Ring doorbells?
- potato3732842 2y agoWorse, not just the feds but the far more capricious state and local agencies.
- whamlastxmas 2y agoThis is true of literally any camera provider who stores video footage in the cloud
- akimbostrawman 2y agoNobody should be suprised by this. This applies to all proprietary blackboxes with unrestricted network access. Maybe now that people are comically angry at musk they at least act like they care.
- whoitwas 2y agoI would like to understand your position. Why do you think people being really mad is funny? To me, this reaction seems to be why Trump and Musk are able to troll and bully. It's because people think it's funny, but why? Are you a child? I mean literally.
- akimbostrawman 2y agoCalling someone a child because you (think you) disagree with them is very mature. Thanks for the entertaining example.
- whoitwas 2y agoI did not call them a child. I asked a question. I recall when I was in school, children were very cruel and would bully one another. It's why I asked.
- fsflover 2y ago> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- computerthings 2y ago[dead]
- whoitwas 2y agoI think the strongest plausible interpretation is that OP is cruel and likes when others suffer. I can't think of an alternative. Why do people laugh at misfortune?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- justforfunhere 2y agoA ridiculous amount of tech wizardry goes into building software that watches over users. Most software engineers won’t blink twice before jumping on such a project—especially if the paycheck is juicy. But rest assured, they’ll still rush to HN to roll their eyes when someone else does it.
- throwaway784989 2y agoThat Teslas are surveillance platforms makes it that much more satisfying to flip the bird at every one that I see.
- netfortius 2y agoHow much of this is applicable to the EU (laws and regulations)?
- kledru 2y agoso Musk potentially has kompromat on everyone?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]