Look out! Your car’s now a spy: Our vehicles become ever more high-tech

Are our cars spying on us? That’s the question many people are asking following reports that Tesla employees have been secretly sharing embarrassing private images of unsuspecting customers captured by the cameras built into the company’s electric cars.

Every Tesla has a camera system that shows the inside and outside of the vehicle to aid in driving while assessing performance.

But such technology is increasingly prevalent in today’s cars, and the Tesla case is just the tip of an industry-wide iceberg as modern cars become more “digital” and concerns about covert surveillance of private citizens – by both corporations and intrusive states – is increasing.

In the Tesla case, an investigation revealed how a video of a man approaching his car naked was just one example of an intimate scene allegedly exchanged between employees on the company’s internal messaging system, Mattermost.

‘Scandalous things’

Between 2019 and 2022, Tesla employees abused the system by sharing intimate video footage they downloaded from customers’ cars, according to the Reuters report after interviews with more than a dozen former employees.

One said they had seen “outrageous things,” while another said they had seen “embarrassing objects,” including what was described as “certain wellness items.”

In a notable twist, a video clip even showed the inside of a garage owned by Tesla and Twitter boss Elon Musk containing an underwater boat Lotus Esprit from the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

A whistleblower admitted: “I don’t think people who buy the car know that their privacy is not being respected.”

Tesla’s website insists that “camera recordings remain anonymous” and “your data belongs to you.” But the problem goes beyond Tesla.

Many modern, high-tech cars are just as capable of tracking your every move. But what else do they pick up on? How do you know when cameras are on and active. And who has access to data and images?

Data demons?

In the latest cars, drivers are usually confronted with a large touchscreen on the dashboard with all kinds of in-car apps.

But they also have to ‘sign’ or say yes to various digital user agreements, and are given a ‘user profile’ for this.

This allows the car manufacturer and its agents to collect so-called “anonymized” data from your car and apps.

But are we simply signing away our privacy in exchange for a number of smart new services?

A poll by the car dealership website Parkers (parkers.co.uk) found that three-quarters of motorists do not want monitoring devices in their cars; and almost nine in ten would not want their car to share driving data with third parties.

Yet only 10 percent of those surveyed knew their car had a data agreement, and of those less than one in five had bothered to read it to see what they’d signed up for.

So how do car manufacturers and data companies, like Google and Facebook, exploit your data?

If your car has its own internet connection, it probably also has “connected services” that allow drivers to use apps while on the road. Indeed, connectivity and ‘the connected car’ are big selling points in today’s automotive industry.

From such apps, the driver can start a car remotely with their smartphone, instruct the climate control to reach a set temperature before getting in, park their car hands-free and be guided to the nearest restaurant, gas station or charging point.

Parkers says car data collection includes information such as: where you’ve been; data about the driver’s driving behavior, including how hard you brake; personal information, including when you purchased your vehicle; and marketing data, such as when your PCP lease ends.

Separate research by consumer experts Which? (who.co.uk) found that four out of five motorists failed to clear all stored data and information transferred from their phones and reset the vehicle to factory settings before selling their car.

More than half (54 percent) of the 14,000 drivers surveyed said they had a phone synced to their car via Bluetooth or a USB cable. But half of them admitted that they had not erased their phone’s data before selling the car.

And nearly a third took no action at all to delete personal data shared with their cars.

Go global

Some pundits have also raised concerns about national security as a result of a new generation of affordable Chinese electric cars packed with high-tech cameras and equipment – including BYD with its new Atto 3 from £36,490, Great Wall Motors’ Ora Funky Cat and the MG series – arriving on British and European coasts.

Tech expert and security consultant James Bore told Wired magazine that smart electric vehicles (EVs) are as big a threat to security as Chinese-made phones and apps like TikTok, which was recently banned from UK government smartphones after similar actions in the EU and us

In the meantime:

• Mercedes-Benz has loaded China’s TikTok social media app into its latest luxury cars, including the next-generation E-Class.
• Audi has struck a deal with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei that will put autonomous driving software in some of its cars.
• Huawei has also signed licensing agreements with Porsche and BMW.

Intriguingly, China itself also recognizes the potential of high-tech cars for covert surveillance.

Last year it banned Teslas from Beidaihe, a seaside town east of Beijing, where the Chinese Communist Party’s annual meeting was held.

It was feared that the vehicles could send sensitive video images to the US

It’s all a far cry from those favorite I Spy books about car spotters used to drive long journeys.

Buy second hand? Read this first

As household bills rise, the nation’s car watchdog urges us not to cut corners when buying a used car.

Some 73 percent of potential buyers would buy a used car instead of a new one this year to save money, according to research by The Motor Ombudsman.

For 28 percent, it would be their first experience buying a used vehicle. And 44 percent of potential used car buyers said they would consider turning to a private individual they don’t know to buy their next vehicle, a poll of more than 2,000 people showed.

In many cases they think it can be cheaper than a store visit, while many prefer to pay cash.

However, the watchdog warns that any savings could be short-lived — plus, it could be risky, especially for those new to the market for a used car.

Privately sold cars come without the extensive checks offered by retailers, as well as without the ‘safety net’ of The Motor Ombudsman (themotorombudsman.org) that can resolve a dispute should something go wrong.

Bill Fennell, managing director and chief ombudsman at the organisation, says: ‘Spending time researching and choosing an established Motor Ombudsman-accredited dealership, where a used car has undergone extensive pre-sale checks, is absolutely essential.

In an era of rising bills, it can be tempting for individuals to cut corners to keep their money going.

While some consumers may think that savings can be made in the short term by buying from a private individual, this could prove to be a false savings as repair bills can add up and make a car an expensive liability.’