A recent hack of Tesla’s car camera revealed some information that can be collected about the driver. Tesla vehicles are known for their advanced technology. In fact, the cars share some of the traits of smartphones, in that over-the-air updates provide new capabilities. Also, data is collected and sent back to Tesla headquarters for analysis. In particular, Autopilot is a feature that relies on data collected from vehicles that are on the road and driven in various locations and conditions by Tesla car owners.
Tesla has among the most advanced self-driving systems currently available and certainly one of the most widespread userbases. With over 800,000 Tesla vehicles sold and all with the hardware necessary for Autopilot, its computer assisted driving technology. Full self-driving requires hardware that began to be installed in 2016. While Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has made bold claims about when autonomous vehicles will become standard, the rush to that end has slowed in recent years. The focus in 2019 and 2020 seems to be ramping up production of the Model 3 and Model Y, with an ongoing effort to increase battery production rates. Tesla vehicles come loaded with multiple cameras that facilitate Autopilot, but Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y also have an interior camera, which was originally inactive.
According to Elektrek, Tesla activated the interior camera this year for the first time. It did so with customer consent, so nothing nefarious is going on. It was described as being for research purposes and the data being collected was not about specific drivers. However, a Tesla hacker was able to uncover some information about what Tesla is checking for with the interior camera. The Tesla hacker, known as 'green' disclosed events that will be sent to Tesla if the user opts into sharing the interior camera for research. Events include 'EYES-CLOSED', 'HEAD_DOWN', 'LOOKING_LEFT', 'PHONE_USE' and 'SUNGLASSES_LIKELY_EYES_DOWN', among others. In total, thirteen events were listed by green. Events like this may mean only a few bits of encoded data are sent, rather than a video stream or photo, but the implication is that Tesla is checking driver attention in relation to its Autopilot feature.
How Interested Is Tesla In Driver Data?
At present Tesla only checks for whether the driver moves the steering wheel or presses the pedals during Autopilot. Since the self-driving feature is currently intended to be used in conjunction with full attention from the driver, monitoring human awareness may inform future software updates. The data could also be helpful in the event of lawsuits, though this use has not been mentioned by Tesla and may not be allowable within the terms of the user agreement. Anything that can make self-driving safer and more available in the future would be a welcome advance.
Thus far, it seems Tesla owners are very trusting of the manufacturer. The lack of uproar over the possibility that a Model 3 or Model Y could be using the interior camera to record driver activity, is somewhat amazing. Perhaps it is the awareness that Tesla doesn’t take risks with customers, notifying them of changes and requesting permission for updates regularly.
Source: Elektrek