Tesla camera invasion allegations forced the giant EV maker to adjust its Sentry Mode.
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A sign is posted at a Tesla showroom on November 5, 2013 in Palo Alto, California. Tesla will report third quarter earnings today after the closing bell.
Thanks to this, Elon Musk and his automotive company were able to avoid the Dutch Data Protection Authority's fine.
Tesla's Sentry Mode was designed to capture the surroundings of the company's EVs. This allows Tesla drivers to ensure that no suspicious activity is taking place near their vehicles.
However, DPA explained that the Sentry Mode poses privacy concerns since this its cameras automatically record anyone walking or standing near Tesla EVs.
Tesla Conducts Sentry Mode Adjustments
The Dutch data watchdog explained that videos and images captured by the Tesla Sentry Mode will stay in the EV maker's system for a long time.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk gestures as he arrives to visit the construction site of the future US electric car giant Tesla, on September 03, 2020 in Gruenheide near Berlin. - Tesla builds a compound at the site in Gruenheide in Brandenburg for its first European "Gigafactory" near Berlin.
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DPA said that this could threaten the privacy of pedestrians who don't want to be recorded.
"Many Teslas parked on the street were often filming everyone who came near the vehicle, and these images were being saved for a very long time," explained Katja Mur, a DPA board member, via Gizmodo.
The DPA official added that it would be a huge problem if all vehicles just capture videos and images of people.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority said that people who own vehicles with this kind of feature could be charged for excessive filming.
To solve the problem, Tesla decided to adjust its Sentry Mode technology.
Tesla Adjusts Sentry Mode
DPA confirmed that the giant automaker made adjustments to its Sentry Mode.
Thanks to this, the Dutch watchdog didn't continue fining Tesla.
One of the changes made by the EV maker is making car headlights flash when the Sentry Mode is activated. This will allow pedestrians to identify if a Tesla EV is recording its surroundings.
The automaker also ensured that the Sentry Mode is not turned on by default. Instead, users will receive a prompt when parking their EVs.
To ensure that EV owners will also be responsible, Tesla explained they need to comply with all local policies.
"It is your sole responsibility to consult and comply with all local regulations and property restrictions regarding the use of cameras," said the EV maker via its official website.
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