Tesla sued by car owner over alleged privacy intrusion
A legal case was initiated in response to claims that workers at Tesla privately exchanged videos and pictures obtained through the company's vehicle cameras.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cali (TechtUSA/Reuters) - A prospective class action lawsuit has been filed against Tesla by a Tesla owner from California, alleging that the electric car manufacturer breached its customers' privacy.
The legal case was initiated on Friday in the Northern District of California's United States District Court as Reuters reported.
Tesla in hot water over increased privacy concerns
As reported by National News, between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla workers shared extremely invasive videos and images captured by customers' cameras in private using an internal messaging system.
Following this, Henry Yeh, a San Francisco-based Tesla Model Y owner, has filed a lawsuit accusing Tesla of allowing its workers to access images and videos from the car's cameras for their own "tasteless and tortious entertainment." Yeh's legal action claims that the sharing of such footage was done to humiliate the individuals who were secretly recorded.
“Like anyone would be, Mr Yeh was outraged at the idea that Tesla's cameras can be used to violate his family's privacy, which the California Constitution scrupulously protects,” Jack Fitzgerald, a lawyer who represents Henry Yeh, said to Reuters.
“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 statement indicated that Yeh is bringing the lawsuit against Tesla on his own behalf, as well as on behalf of other individuals who are in a similar situation, and the general public. The potential class of plaintiffs would include people who have either owned or leased a Tesla vehicle within the last four years, according to the complaint.
