We use essential cookies and third-party cookies for content.

Pallade Veneta - Tesla sued over workers' alleged access to car video imagery

Tesla sued over workers' alleged access to car video imagery

CULTURE 10.04.2023
Tesla sued over workers' alleged access to car video imagery
Tesla sued over workers' alleged access to car video imagery / Photo: Jade Gao - AFP

A Tesla owner is seeking class action status for a lawsuit accusing the automaker of allowing its workers to use intimate or embarrassing imagery captured by the electric vehicles for "tasteless entertainment."

Change text size:

San Francisco resident Henry Yeh filed the suit in federal court on Friday, in the wake of a Reuters report citing former Tesla staff who said video or pictures had been accessed from people's cars.

Tesla employees "circulated recordings of Tesla customers in private and embarrassing situations, without their consent," courtesy of sophisticated camera systems built into the cars, a court filing contended.

Examples listed in the suit included a naked man walking toward a Tesla and road-rage incidents.

A video showing a Tesla hitting a child on a bicycle quickly spread around a Tesla office in Silicon Valley, the court filing said.

It added that Tesla employees had shared pictures of people's pets, making some into "memes" embellished with commentary before being posted in group chats.

Cameras in vehicles captured "highly-invasive videos and images" which were used for "the tasteless and tortious entertainment" of Tesla employees, the suit maintained.

The activity dates back to at least 2019, according to the filing.

The lawsuit asks the court to order Tesla to stop the "wrongful behavior" and pay unspecified damages.

The suit accuses Tesla of negligence, fraud and privacy invasion.

Tesla did not reply to an AFP request for comment.

E.Magrini--PV

Featured

Jersey Boys Anniversary Tour Opens in Birmingham With Gritty Account of Crime and Fame

The 20th-anniversary tour of Jersey Boys has opened at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, offering a gritty and unvarnished look at the Four Seasons’ journey. The production details the band's turbulent rise from New Jersey petty criminals to international rock stars, highlighting the complex personal costs behind their musical success.

UBC professor describes police call after Galloway remark as act of care

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia professor has testified about a colleague’s decision to call police to visit Steven Galloway after he was accused of sexual assault, describing it as an “act of care” toward the author, who had spoken of killing himself. Galloway, who is suing his accuser and others in a defamation trial centred on the unproven allegations, has described his subsequent committal to a hospital in the United States as “terrifying.

The Cat in the Hat expands its stakes to cosmic scale in animated reboot

The folks behind the new animated “The Cat in the Hat” are pretty confident they’ve got the cat in the bag. It hasn’t even opened yet and there are onscreen references to possible movie spinoffs for the jet-powered magical couch and The Things.

Lettermen co-founder Tony Butala dies at 87

NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Butala, co-founder of the Grammy-nominated trio The Lettermen, whose lush vocal harmonies made them one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 87.

Change text size: