Singer G-Dragon (GD) arrived at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport and was spotted sitting in Tesla’s electric pickup truck ‘Cybertruck’. /Photo=News1
It was reported that the Tesla ‘Cybertruck’, which is known to be used by singers Kim Junsu and G-Dragon in Korea, was involved in an explosion accident on the 1st (local time) in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, USA. Following the incident, concerns were raised about Tesla vehicles collecting personal information in the US.
On the 5th (local time), the Washington Post (WP) and others reported that after the accident, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dispatched a team on the 2nd to assist the authorities in extracting data and footage from the wreck of the accident vehicle. Additionally, video footage from vehicle charging stations used by the suspect driver while traveling from Colorado to Las Vegas was provided.
Musk remarked after the accident on the 1st, stating, “This evil fool picked the wrong car for a terrorist attack.” This comment is interpreted to imply that the Cybertruck collects various information, fully revealing paths taken. While most vehicles equipped with park-assist or navigation systems access location data or camera footage, WP explained that Tesla vehicles might have access to more extensive data.
On the 3rd, the authorities released video footage showing Matthew Reibelsberger, the suspect and driver of the Cybertruck explosion incident, charging the vehicle at a Tesla-exclusive charging station in Arizona. However, the officials did not specify how this footage was obtained and mentioned that Musk assisted in recovering the drive recording the data, including the video.
Nonetheless, within the US, there is criticism that this incident highlights how much personal data vehicles, including Tesla, collect. There is concern that there are currently minimal regulations on when and how law enforcement can access in-car data.
For Tesla cars, at least eight cameras are built in for autonomous driving. Other self-driving vehicles commonly use ‘LiDAR’, which emits lasers to observe the distance and shape of surrounding objects, but Tesla is designed to recognize its surroundings by using more cameras instead of LiDAR. The cameras can monitor 360 degrees, including the front, rear, and sides, in real-time, detecting obstacles, road signs, lanes, and traffic signals.
Additionally, internal cameras can detect passenger behavior while driving, and microphones installed to execute voice commands capture and store the driver’s voice information. Tesla is known to collect these data and send them to Tesla’s servers when the car connects to Wi-Fi, using it to enhance autonomous driving capabilities.
In an interview conducted by Reuters in 2023 with former Tesla employees, it was revealed that internal staff secretly shared video footage captured by Tesla-mounted cameras, becoming controversial.
WP also reported that insurance companies verify premiums based on driving data shared by car companies. According to a 2023 report by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, over 75% of 25 global car manufacturers admitted to selling or sharing driver data, and more than half stated they could share data upon requests from law enforcement or government authorities.