Tesla data helped police after Las Vegas truck explosion, but experts have wider privacy concerns

Article content

NEW YORK (AP) — Your car is spying on you.

Article content

Article content

That’s one takeaway from the quick and detailed data Tesla collected on the driver of one of its e-trucks that exploded in Las Vegas earlier this week. Privacy data experts say Elon Musk’s deep research was impressive, but it also highlights a difficult question as vehicles become less like cars and more like computers on wheels.

Is your car company violating your privacy rights?

“You may want law enforcement to have the data needed to crack down on criminals, but can anyone access it?” said Judy Daniels, CEO of privacy consulting firm Red Clover Advisors. “Where’s the line?”

Article content

Many modern cars not only know where you’ve been and where you’re going, but they can often also access your contacts, call logs, texts and other sensitive information thanks to cell phone syncing.

Data collected by Musk’s electric car company after a fireworks-filled Cybertruck caught fire in front of the Trump International Hotel on Wednesday has proven valuable to police in helping track the driver’s movements.

Within hours of the New Year’s Day explosion that burned the driver beyond recognition and injured seven, Tesla was able to track Matthew Livelsperger’s movements in detail from Denver to Las Vegas, and also confirm that the problem was with the explosives in the truck, not the truck itself. . . Tesla has used data collected from charging stations and on-board software, and it has been very well received.

“I have to thank Elon Musk specifically,” Las Vegas Police Chief Kevin McMahill told reporters. “He gave us a great deal of additional information.”

Some privacy experts were less enthusiastic.

“It reveals the kind of comprehensive surveillance going on,” said David Chofness, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University in Boston. “When something bad happens, it’s helpful, but it’s a double-edged sword. Companies that collect this data can misuse it.

Article content

Article content

For example, General Motors was sued in August by the Texas attorney general for allegedly selling data from 1.8 million drivers to insurance companies without their consent.

Cars equipped with cameras to enable self-driving features have added a new security risk. Tesla itself came under fire after Reuters reported how employees from 2019 through 2022 shared sensitive videos and recordings of drivers with each other, including videos of road rage incidents and, in one case, nudity.

Tesla did not respond to emailed questions about its privacy policy. Tesla says on its website that it follows strict rules to keep names and information private.

“No one but you will have knowledge of your activities, your location, or the history of where you have been,” the statement read. “Your information remains private and secure.”

Auto analyst Sam Abu Al-Samad at Telemetry Insight said he doesn’t think Tesla is “particularly worse” than other auto companies at handling customer data, but he remains concerned.

“This is one of the biggest ethical issues we face with modern vehicles. They are connected,” he said. “Consumers need to be in control of their data.”

Article content

Tensions were high when the e-truck parked at the front doors of the Trump Hotel began smoking, then burst into flames. Just hours earlier, the driver of another car using the same car rental service, Toro, killed 15 people after plowing into a crowd of people in New Orleans in what law enforcement is calling a terrorist attack.

Just before one o’clock in the afternoon, Las Vegas police announced that they were investigating a second incident.

“The fire is out,” police announced on the social media platform X, another of Musk’s companies. “Please avoid the area.”

Shortly thereafter, Tesla moved into action.

“The entire Tesla team is investigating this matter now. We will release more information as soon as we learn anything,” Musk wrote on X.

Over the next few hours, Tesla was able to piece together Livelsperger’s trip over five days and four states by tracking, among other things, recharging stations in various locations, including Monument, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona.

There are no federal laws regulating automobile data similar to those restricting information collection and sharing by banks and health care providers. State laws are a collection of different rules, mostly focused on data privacy in general.

Daniels, the privacy consultant, believes new national laws are needed because the rules have not kept up with technology.

“I think law enforcement should have access to data that can help them solve things quickly,” she said. “But we have a right to privacy.”

Article content