Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is a publicly traded manufacturer of connected electric vehicles equipped with external Sentry Mode cameras, an in-cabin driver-monitoring camera, and an owner mobile app. Tesla's own Customer Privacy Notice describes four broad categories of vehicle-generated data (Vehicle, Diagnostic, Infotainment, and Autopilot Data), states that driving data is not associated with a customer's identity or account by default, and that cabin-camera data shared for feature improvement is not linked to the account or VIN, while also disclosing sharing with service providers, business partners, and law enforcement/government authorities "as required by law." The company states it does not sell personal data. Tesla's own 2023 Form 10-K disclosed that a foreign news outlet obtained misappropriated internal data including personal information, that Tesla notified potentially affected current and former employees and regulators, and that a putative class action followed; no FTC or state-AG enforcement order was found via a primary source during this review. Ownership is fully traceable through Tesla's own SEC filings. Separately, Reuters reported in April 2023, citing nine former employees, that Tesla staff internally shared sensitive video and images recorded by customers' car cameras between 2019 and 2022, including footage from customers' garages and a crash involving a child; a proposed class action citing that report was filed against Tesla in federal court in California days later.
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[2026-09-13] · NEW RECEIPTS
3 new sources on file for Tesla.
Tesla's file gained 3 new sourced claims since its last review.
Tesla's Customer Privacy Notice states that its vehicles generate four categories of data — Vehicle Data, Diagnostic Data, Infotainment System Data, and Autopilot Data — including telemetry on vehicle performance, usage, operation and health, and separately states that Tesla does not associate driving-generated vehicle data with a customer's identity or account by default.
NBC News republished Reuters' April 6, 2023 reporting that Tesla's own Customer Privacy Notice states camera recordings 'remain anonymous and are not linked to you or your vehicle,' but that seven former Tesla employees said the internal tool used to review camera clips could show the location where a recording was made -- information that could reveal where a Tesla owner lived. The same report states that between 2019 and 2022 groups of Tesla employees privately shared images and video captured by customers' vehicle cameras, including footage from inside customers' garages, via the company's internal messaging system.
SEC EDGAR's company record for Tesla confirms the registrant as 'Tesla, Inc.' (CIK 0001318605), incorporated in Texas and headquartered in Austin, Texas, and notes the entity was formerly named 'Tesla Motors Inc' through January 2017.
Tesla's own Form 10-K (fiscal year 2023, filed with the SEC) states that Tesla is a Nasdaq-listed public company whose common stock has traded under the ticker symbol TSLA since 2010, giving a direct, single-entity ownership chain with no obscuring parent company.
Tesla's Customer Privacy Notice states that Tesla does not sell personal data, while separately disclosing that it shares information with service providers, business partners and affiliates, repair/insurance-related partners, and with law enforcement and government authorities as required by law or when the company determines disclosure is otherwise appropriate.
Reuters' April 6, 2023 special report, based on interviews with nine former Tesla employees, found that between 2019 and 2022 groups of Tesla staff privately shared via the company's internal Mattermost messaging system sensitive video and images recorded by customers' car cameras -- including footage from inside customers' garages and private property, a 2021 crash video of a child being struck while riding a bike, a video of a man approaching a vehicle completely naked, and footage of a submersible vehicle parked in Tesla CEO Elon Musk's own garage. Seven former employees told Reuters the internal tool they used could show the location where a clip was recorded, which could reveal where an owner lived, despite Tesla's Customer Privacy Notice stating that camera recordings 'remain anonymous and are not linked to you or your vehicle.' Tesla did not respond to Reuters' detailed questions for the report.
Reuters reported that on April 7, 2023 Tesla owner Henry Yeh filed a proposed class action against Tesla in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Tesla violated customers' privacy under the California Constitution because employees could access camera footage and images recorded by customers' cars for what the complaint called their 'tasteless and tortious entertainment.' The suit followed Reuters' April 6, 2023 report on internal sharing of camera footage and sought to represent a proposed class of individuals who owned or leased a Tesla within the prior four years; Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Tesla's 2023 Form 10-K discloses that during the second quarter of 2023 a foreign news outlet reported it had obtained misappropriated Tesla business and personal data, that Tesla notified potentially affected current and former employees and regulatory authorities, and that a putative class action covering U.S. individuals affected by the incident was filed in federal court in August 2023.
Tesla's own Apple App Store privacy-nutrition label for the Tesla app self-declares only a 'Data Not Linked to You' category (Usage Data, Diagnostics) and does not declare any data used to track the user across apps/websites or any data linked to the user's identity.
The Customer Privacy Notice describes the vehicle's external Sentry Mode cameras and in-cabin driver-monitoring camera: Sentry Mode footage is not transmitted to Tesla by default and is saved locally, and the cabin camera is off by default and only shares opt-in analytics data that Tesla states is not linked to the customer's account or VIN.