Tesla is facing a potential class action lawsuit filed by a California-based Model Y owner, Henry Yeh, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit alleges that Tesla violated the privacy of its customers, allowing employees to access highly invasive videos and images recorded by the customers’ car cameras between 2019 and 2022. The lawsuit claims that the employees accessed these videos for “tasteless and tortious entertainment” and “the humiliation of those surreptitiously recorded.”
Yeh’s attorney, Jack Fitzgerald, stated that Yeh was outraged at the idea that Tesla’s cameras could be used to violate his family’s privacy, which the California Constitution scrupulously protects. “Tesla needs to be held accountable for these invasions and for misrepresenting its lax privacy practices to him and other Tesla owners,” Fitzgerald added.
The complaint is being filed against Tesla on behalf of Yeh, similarly-situated class members, and the general public, and the prospective class would include individuals who owned or leased a Tesla within the past four years. The lawsuit claims that Tesla’s conduct is “particularly egregious” and “highly offensive,” and is asking the court “to enjoin Tesla from engaging in its wrongful behavior, including violating the privacy of customers and others, and to recover actual and punitive damages.”
According to Reuters, some Tesla employees could see customers “doing laundry and really intimate things. We could see their kids,” citing a former employee. The lawsuit states that “parents’ interest in their children’s privacy is one of the most fundamental liberty interests society recognizes.”
Tesla has not yet responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
This incident highlights the importance of companies’ commitment to protecting customer privacy, as well as the potential misuse of data when not regulated correctly. As the world becomes increasingly reliant on technology, it is essential to prioritize privacy and security concerns to ensure customers’ trust in companies. As Yeh’s attorney Fitzgerald stated, “Tesla needs to be held accountable for these invasions.”
