Caliber’s review The hidden surveillance from September 2022 was about a feature available in most electric cars of the Tesla brand: the car’s sentry mode, or guard camera, which is there to protect the car from vandalism. But it’s not just when someone gets too close to the car that the cameras start – they can be turned on through an app regardless of where you are.
The videos from the Tesla cars are against the GDPR
This has proven not to be entirely uncontroversial. Kaliber interviewed Johanna Chamberlain, doctor of civil law at Uppsala University, who said that when the car cameras film in public places, there is usually no valid reason to collect personal data, and that it therefore contravenes the data protection regulation (GDPR).
The authorities did not act on this until about two years ago. Then Stefan came into the garage where his car was parked – and reacted to the way the car next to it blinked. He looked into the car and saw a red dot on the screen, a recording symbol he recognizes from smart phones.
Stefan experienced this as an invasion of his privacy and submitted a complaint to the Privacy Protection Agency IMY, the authority that is the supervisory authority for GDPR.
Decision of the Dutch data protection authority
IMY, in turn, forwarded the case to the Netherlands, where the company has its headquarters. There, the question would be decided as to who would be seen as the personal data controller for the footage stored from the security cameras – Tesla or the individual car owner.
This follow-up is about the decision from the Dutch data protection authority, and what consequences it has for car owners in Sweden.
Source: ICELAND NEWS