[HN Gopher] Dutch forensic lab says it has decoded Tesla's drivi...
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       Dutch forensic lab says it has decoded Tesla's driving data
        
       Author : gzer0
       Score  : 118 points
       Date   : 2021-10-23 09:29 UTC (13 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | csours wrote:
       | Disclaimer: I work for a Tesla competitor.
       | 
       | To combat fundamental attribution error, whenever you read an
       | article about Tesla, try replacing the word 'Tesla' with your
       | least favorite car or consumer product company.
       | 
       | 'Brand X' has a bunch of data about accidents, and they are
       | motivated to not share all of it with authorities. When they do
       | share data they are motivated to share the data that presents
       | them in the best light. How would it feel if there was data about
       | a crash you were involved in that you could not get access to?
        
         | mensetmanusman wrote:
         | It's a good question, because in reality it depends on where
         | the data is going.
         | 
         | E.g. in China they don't trust parents with data on the gender
         | of their child from ultrasounds due to the prevalence of sex-
         | selective abortions. In other countries there are parties about
         | the data. Data is always in a cultural context.
        
         | driverdan wrote:
         | > How would it feel if there was data about a crash you were
         | involved in that you could not get access to?
         | 
         | I'd be angry that data was recorded in the first place. No data
         | should be recorded without the driver's explicit consent.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | snypher wrote:
           | You won't be happy knowing the manufacturer retains the right
           | to use that recorded data against you if you try to sue them.
        
           | tenken wrote:
           | Ya I dunno. In the USA driving is a privilege, not a Right.
        
             | tdeck wrote:
             | Using the restroom at Starbucks is a privilege, not a
             | right. That doesn't mean I expect to be recorded in the
             | restroom.
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | mettamage wrote:
         | Ohhh, I think this can be a generalized life hack! Thanks!
         | 
         | First extension I see: do this with people :D
        
           | birdman3131 wrote:
           | The issue with this is often there are reasons a
           | person/manufacturer are more or less liked than others.
           | Sometimes those reasons even matter.
        
             | csours wrote:
             | For sure. It's not a magic bullet. This is one of the
             | hardest problems because it's so hard to see and reason
             | clearly.
        
         | patrec wrote:
         | Sorry to be a pendant, but disclosure, not disclaimer.
        
           | BlewisJS wrote:
           | Sorry to be a pedant, but pedant, not pendant.
        
       | the-dude wrote:
       | Related : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28943234
        
       | malermeister wrote:
       | How is this amount of data collection GDPR compatible?
        
         | Aachen wrote:
         | Claim "legitimate interest", wait for someone to bother with a
         | lawsuit, profit in the meantime for many years while the fine
         | can be at most a few % (I think max 4%?) of turnover in a
         | single year, and that's only if you lose badly.
         | 
         | Not saying this is actually illegal, just if it is then this is
         | probably the reasoning. One could design a drinking game around
         | illegal things that just nobody bothers to enforce. Related:
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_is_nine-tenths_of...
         | (basically it's up to the victim to bother with legal work and
         | proving things)
        
       | NoImmatureAdHom wrote:
       | What new cars (or types of new cars) are the most privacy-
       | friendly?
       | 
       | No data connections, no logging, as hackable as possible
        
       | indymike wrote:
       | How long until someone in law enforcement decides to just ticket
       | all the speeders who have a Tesla?
        
       | gkfasdfasdf wrote:
       | I don't have a link handy, but WSJ reported that China does not
       | allow high ranking officials to drive Teslas because of the
       | potential of leaking location data etc.
        
       | campuscodi wrote:
       | lol... this is not a Reuters "exclusive"
       | 
       | We had this on The Record half a day before them:
       | https://therecord.media/dutch-forensic-lab-decrypts-teslas-d...
       | 
       | modern-day journalism, smh
        
       | fny wrote:
       | Can someone provide some color on why a state actor would
       | advertise such a feat? Now that this is public, I imagine Tesla
       | can and likely will work to block access.
        
         | tpmx wrote:
         | Bragging/national pride. NL things.
        
         | kjaftaedi wrote:
         | They are using it in court cases, so it would not be a secret
         | anyway.
         | 
         | The issue was that Tesla was only providing certain data that
         | was being asked for.
         | 
         | You wouldn't know that it would be possible to ask for more
         | information, unless you knew they were collecting it.
         | 
         | Now they know Tesla has this information they should be able to
         | get it from them regardless if they have to decrypt it
         | themselves or not.
         | 
         | (Unless Tesla decides to stop collecting data for some reason.)
        
           | specialist wrote:
           | > _You wouldn 't know that it would be possible to ask for
           | more information, unless you knew they were collecting it._
           | 
           | Totally. I've played this game with FOIA (public records
           | requests). It's _exhausting_. Of course they had the data.
           | But as a private citizen, I had to _prove_ they had the data
           | before I could request it.
        
           | ajross wrote:
           | > You wouldn't know that it would be possible to ask for more
           | information, unless you knew they were collecting it.
           | 
           | Only if Tesla purjured themselves during discovery. That's
           | not the way court cases work. You can ask "Do you guys record
           | the accelerometer data anywhere else but on the MCU?" and
           | they have to answer truthfully.
           | 
           | What you write here mostly amounts to a conspiracy theory.
           | You're taking the idea that Tesla is "hiding something
           | nefarious" as a prior and then taking evidence that their
           | storage was reverse engineered as evidence _for_ that prior.
           | 
           | But that's not how engineering works either.
        
             | barney54 wrote:
             | The article states, "Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI)
             | said it had discovered far more data than investigators had
             | previously been aware of." The implication is that Tesla
             | has not shared all of this information with investigators
             | before.
        
             | lazide wrote:
             | Eh, that's generally not how the procedure works. A
             | defendant quite explicitly doesn't need to proactively
             | provide all information that could possibly incriminate
             | themselves. If the plaintiff isn't asking for something
             | then, cool. The plaintiff COULD ask for 'all self driving
             | data', but often that can be objected to and/or thrown out,
             | as it's a fishing expedition and that data is proprietary.
             | So that can tie up things for a long time while everyone
             | argues back and forth in court, and it's likely they'd only
             | get the bare minimum to address whatever the case is
             | alleging. That is very expensive to do.
             | 
             | If they know it's there and can proactively argue it's
             | appropriate, that changes the equation dramatically.
        
               | ajross wrote:
               | You don't have to know it's there, you just have to
               | understand the problem space enough to find it. You
               | depose an engineer and you ask "do you store this
               | information?", and they have to answer. Then you can ask
               | "where do you store it?", and so on. There's complexity
               | about some questions being procedurally allowed, etc...
               | But that's how it works.
               | 
               | Fundamentally this process isn't any different than
               | reverse engineering. If a good hacker can figure out how
               | something works based on knowledge of the problem domain
               | and technology in use, then _those same questions_ can be
               | answered in a deposition and provided via discovery, by
               | definition.
        
             | adfrhgeaq5hy wrote:
             | We know for a fact Tesla is _doing_ something nefarious,
             | i.e. the self driving scam.
             | 
             | But I suppose Tesla isn't _hiding_ anything nefarious. Most
             | of their malfeasance is plain to see.
        
               | tenuousemphasis wrote:
               | As someone who actually purchased FSD and has yet to
               | receive it, it's not a scam. It's just a really hard
               | problem that I think Tesla will solve before anyone else.
        
               | lazide wrote:
               | If someone promises you'll have it any day now, so you
               | pay them a lot of money, but they delay it years and
               | years - and you note it's a really hard problem - at what
               | point is it fraud?
               | 
               | Most legal precedent I've seen says a lot less time than
               | they've already delayed it, frankly.
        
               | ajross wrote:
               | > at what point is it fraud?
               | 
               | It's fraud when someone is harmed. People like you who
               | didn't buy the product and don't want it don't have
               | standing here. People like me, who did, do. And almost
               | without exception, we're all lined up to get the beta
               | release. Offer me a $10k refund today in exchange for
               | never getting access to FSD releases, and I'd turn it
               | down.
               | 
               | "People willfully paying for something I don't like"
               | isn't fraud. Find a FSD owner willing to sue for a
               | refund.
        
               | karpierz wrote:
               | Why would getting a refund preclude you from buying self
               | driving if/when it's released? I think that "pay now,
               | maybe get it later" or "don't pay now, can't buy it
               | later" is a false dilemma.
        
               | ajross wrote:
               | > Why would getting a refund preclude you from buying
               | self driving if/when it's released?
               | 
               | It wouldn't. It would be an existence proof that _this
               | isn 't fraud_: I want the product, they offer it as a
               | pre-purchase with disclaimers, I bought it, ergo I wasn't
               | harmed. Getting a refund now for a product a fully intend
               | to purchase again in the future is called a "loan".
               | 
               | Again, fraud is a crime. It requires damages. I have to
               | have been harmed.
        
               | throwawayay02 wrote:
               | What if it can be proven they were never serious in their
               | claims about the feasability of self-driving. What if it
               | was all a scam to milk investment money, and yours as
               | well. Would it be fraud then? Point being you were given
               | a disclaimer that was accepted in good faith about
               | receiving a product/service in a reasonable time frame.
               | If that time frame turned out to be 100 years, I'd say
               | you were damaged.
        
               | ajross wrote:
               | > What if it can be proven they were never serious in
               | their claims about the feasability of self-driving. What
               | if it was all a scam to milk investment money, and yours
               | as well. Would it be fraud then?
               | 
               | Yes, it would. Because then I would want a refund. But
               | that would be asserting facts not in evidence, and I
               | refer to my point upthread about arguing from a
               | conspiracy as a prior.
        
               | ximeng wrote:
               | There are plenty of videos on Youtube showing the state
               | and rate of progress of self-driving. It's clear it's got
               | a long way to go but is improving quickly.
               | 
               | Everyone knows that Elon Musk's twitter is not a reliable
               | indicator of feature release dates.
        
         | cinntaile wrote:
         | The access is already blocked, it says in the article that they
         | had to decrypt the data in the data-storage system. It's not
         | like Tesla can prevent a state actor from having access anyway,
         | that's just a law away.
        
       | PragmaticPulp wrote:
       | > The vehicles also record speed, accelerator pedal position,
       | steering wheel angle and brake usage, and depending on how the
       | vehicle is used, that data can be stored for over a year.
       | 
       | Tesla really seems to have an extreme amount of personal data
       | capture combined with always-on remote access.
       | 
       | It's fascinating to watch people swear off Amazon Echo and delete
       | their Facebook over privacy concerns but then proudly drive
       | around in a vehicle that records everything, stores everything,
       | and gives opaque data access to the parent company. In this case,
       | a parent company with a reputation for bending the rules to suit
       | their needs.
       | 
       | Really goes to show how much the computing privacy debate is a
       | matter of brand loyalties and each company's position on the hype
       | cycle more than anything else.
        
         | mensetmanusman wrote:
         | This reminds me of the medical data issue.
         | 
         | We are learning that humanity can learn a lot about how to
         | treat diseases with enough understanding (data).
         | 
         | It's entirely foreseeable that level 5 FSD isn't possible
         | without data.
        
         | nightski wrote:
         | I've definitely been hesitant to buy a Tesla for exactly this
         | reason. It's not clear if you can turn it off or avoid it by
         | not using FSD either. It's a shame, would love to own one some
         | day. But I'm guessing the option of buying a car that doesn't
         | have this is slowly dying unfortunately. Consumers never win
         | with this sort of stuff. The really ironic thing is that it is
         | tied in with a more environmentally friendly car. Want to avoid
         | being spied on? Then you need to use dirty fossil fuels.
        
           | voakbasda wrote:
           | I will continue to repair my '70s and '80s era vehicles,
           | because newer models that incorporate electronics are all
           | total garbage. Reason: embedded engineer for 30 years who has
           | worked on automotive software.
        
             | slt2021 wrote:
             | old vehicles are very inefficient in terms of safety, fuel
             | consumption, and exhaust gases, for this reason alone one
             | should prefer electric or modern era ICE
        
               | voakbasda wrote:
               | And those extra costs are worth paying to avoid
               | businesses that abuse their customers by making parts and
               | service inaccessible or unaffordable, tracking their
               | customer, and otherwise making cars more expensive and
               | less enjoyable to own and use. And all carmakers are
               | abusive these days, because the market has selected for
               | that new status quo.
        
               | tsimionescu wrote:
               | The emissions cost of building a new car and shipping it
               | halfway across the world will significantly affect this
               | calculation. You can drive a less efficient car for many
               | years on the carbon cost of building a new one, as long
               | as you're not driving some huge pick up or other obscene
               | gas guzzler.
        
               | natch wrote:
               | The second part of what you said is a widespread myth.
               | 
               | There is a crossover point after you drive a certain
               | number of miles in an EV, after which the lifetime carbon
               | cost is lower than that of an equivalent ICE car.
               | 
               | For Model 3 the crossover point is estimated at around
               | 5,000 miles. Not "many years."
               | 
               | The sources and methodology for this estimate are
               | discussed in detail in Tesla's 2020 Impact Report.
               | 
               | https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2020-tesla-impact-
               | report.pdf
               | 
               | Excerpt:
               | 
               | --
               | 
               | Variables often overlooked by other lifecycle studies:
               | 
               | * Using Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure
               | (WLTP) or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
               | fuel/energy consumption data (both of which overestimate
               | fuel-economy and underestimate emissions) rather than
               | real-world data;
               | 
               | * Not considering the higher energy efficiency of Tesla's
               | powertrains;
               | 
               | * Assuming the average EV needs a battery replacement at
               | some point in its life;
               | 
               | * Not considering emissions generated through the oil
               | refining and the transportation process; and
               | 
               | * Using outdated data for the carbon impact of cell
               | manufacturing.
        
               | throwawaylinux wrote:
               | Fuel consumption and carbon emissions - that very much
               | depends. Small cars of 30-40 year ago are often very
               | good, even better than today's models in some cases.
               | 
               | https://www.mpgomatic.com/2007/11/04/toyota-corolla-gas-
               | mile...
               | 
               | Reasons for this are probably creeping sizes and weights
               | and larger engines, larger tires and softer rides.
        
               | hungryforcodes wrote:
               | Though none of those cars track my personal data in the
               | extreme or in fact at all. Remember the point of the GP
               | thread...
        
               | speedgoose wrote:
               | In case of a crash, I rather have my butt position being
               | tracked and in palantir's databases or equivalent than
               | having the engine block crushing my body.
        
               | hungryforcodes wrote:
               | I have no idea why these are mutually exclusive and no
               | I'd rather die in a flaming car accident than have myself
               | tracked in Palentir's databases. Fortunately, I don't
               | have a car-- nor need one -- so this is a pleasant day.
        
             | btbuilder wrote:
             | In my experience fuel injection is much more reliable than
             | carburetors. Fuel injection requires zero adjustment. Many
             | mid-90s cars have electronic fuel injection and ABS
             | controllers and that's it.
        
             | croh wrote:
             | you can repair only as long as parts are avilable.
        
               | voakbasda wrote:
               | Parts are available because I am far from alone in this
               | sentiment.
        
           | omgwtfbyobbq wrote:
           | There's an option in one of the menus for data sharing which
           | should restrict some of the individualized data being
           | generated. They'll still collect data on certain aspects off
           | vehicle operation for diagnostic/monitoring purposes though.
        
         | spfzero wrote:
         | Those data items, speed and control position, don't seem
         | equivalent to the data Google, Amazon and Facebook collect.
         | They do seem like legitimate telemetry on a machine operated by
         | a human though. If my pedal position differs from someone
         | else's, that tells you nothing about me other than that was
         | where the pedal was.
         | 
         | Those tell Tesla nothing about my personal habits, my political
         | leanings, who my friends are, what organizations I donate to or
         | participate in, etc.
        
           | sorokod wrote:
           | Could be used to calculate the price of your car insurance.
           | 
           | If the data is distinct enough, it could be used to identify
           | the driver (with some degree of probability). It then could
           | be shared with car insureres / law enforcement agencies /
           | private investigators / random concerned citizens.
        
             | spullara wrote:
             | For sure! https://www.tesla.com/support/insurance
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | nyIXfKmM84f1OPr wrote:
         | > It's fascinating to watch people swear off Amazon Echo and
         | delete their Facebook over privacy concerns but then proudly
         | drive around in a vehicle that records everything, stores
         | everything, and gives opaque data access to the parent company.
         | 
         | How does this give anyone more data on me than is already out
         | there based on the cellphone in my pocket and the use of my
         | credit/debit cards? Even if Tesla didn't collect it the LTE
         | signal of the car is enough to track me when I leave my phone
         | at home.
         | 
         | And if you don't have Tesla and your car has something like
         | OnStar it can do this too.
         | 
         | All I see are people making a mountain out of a mole hill. The
         | data on my accelerator pedal is not a threat to my privacy or
         | freedom.
         | 
         | The massive number of safety features in this car are a net
         | benefit for my physical safety, though. The number of times
         | I've avoided collisions because the car took action when people
         | I couldn't see were about to hit me is worth every penny.
         | 
         | I will never buy another car without the Tesla standard set of
         | features ever again. I used to avoid doing things because of a
         | long drive as I hate the fatigue. Now I don't even blink at the
         | idea of going 300 miles for an event.
        
         | halfmatthalfcat wrote:
         | Is it not a necessary condition to collect that data in order
         | to build and refine eventual FSD? I'm not making a blanket
         | statement about bulk data collection but in Tesla's case, that
         | data will eventually trickle back to the consumer in the form
         | of car upgrades.
        
         | vanilla_nut wrote:
         | I feel like there's only a very small intersection between the
         | Facebook-avoiding, home assistant-eschewing crowd and the Tesla
         | driving crowd.
         | 
         | Anecdotal I know, but most people I know who drive Teslas have
         | multiple home assistants, Instagram/Facebook accounts, and
         | little regard for personal privacy.
         | 
         | Most people I know in the social media/home assistant avoiding
         | crowd talk about how they wish they could buy a car with 90s
         | tech (but 2021 safety tech) to make it simpler and cheaper to
         | repair, since they don't care about CarPlay or Android Auto or
         | the million "convenience" features that don't work reliably.
        
           | Waterluvian wrote:
           | Not just most Tesla drivers, but most people in general have
           | these things.
           | 
           | The recurring theme is just how terrible high tech people are
           | at estimating what's normal in the world.
           | 
           | The overwhelming majority of people don't think or care about
           | the privacy concerns of either. The overwhelming majority of
           | Tesla drivers are not privacy oriented tech nerds.
        
           | lttlrck wrote:
           | 2021 safety tech includes back-up camera and associated LCD
           | display, auto braking, lane keeping, LED headlight
           | advancements, blind spot monitoring and numerous air bags,
           | auto wipers and lights etc etc. plus structural improvement.
           | 
           | The car they want sounds like less well made 2021 car with
           | 1990s fuel economy and performance and a drivetrain that is
           | easier to maintain but needs more maintenance.
        
             | manigandham wrote:
             | Outside of airbags and structural/material improvements,
             | most of that hasn't actually contributed much to safety.
             | 
             | Many brands have also seen a big decline in reliability and
             | quality of craftsmanship. In fact Tesla's high-end models
             | _still_ don 't match the quality control of Toyota's most
             | basic cars. Sure tech has improved but construction and
             | longevity has taken a hit.
        
             | frosted-flakes wrote:
             | No, just the airbags, structural improvements (including
             | crumple zones), and ABS brakes. Most of the other things
             | you listed are primarily or exclusively convenience
             | features.
        
           | toomuchtodo wrote:
           | I'd agree with that. We own Teslas but have no home
           | assistants, use Facebook as little as possible, and buy Apple
           | products because of their privacy stance. Nuance is
           | important. I trust Tesla and Apple with my data, but not
           | Facebook, Google, or Amazon.
           | 
           | Contributing in small part to the electrification of
           | transportation is more important to us than any benefit I'd
           | enjoy from Tesla collecting less or no data from our
           | vehicles.
        
             | mrhands556 wrote:
             | But why one companies and not the other in terms of trust?
             | It's not like there are inherently different types of
             | people working at one company vs the other. I'm curious.
        
               | mensetmanusman wrote:
               | Perfection shouldn't be the enemy of improvement.
        
               | bigyikes wrote:
               | Tesla doesn't make money via ad targeting and sales.
        
               | mysterydip wrote:
               | Yet. As soon as data is stored/archived, it can be used
               | later for any purpose. Even if the original company has
               | no desire to do so, acquisitions/mergers/sales/trusted-
               | third-parties could.
        
               | Retric wrote:
               | The world is full of trade offs. Stuff that might happen
               | in the future is less important than stuff that's
               | definitely happening today.
        
               | toomuchtodo wrote:
               | Time value of progress if you will.
        
               | JoshCole wrote:
               | No, stored data cannot be later used for any purpose.
               | 
               | In recent years there have been numerous laws and
               | regulations passed concerning data rights and privacy. If
               | you get consent for data usage in one way, but then use
               | it in a way that differs with what the user consented to,
               | that isn't in compliance with the law.
               | 
               | It would be fairer to say that even if the original
               | company desperately had the desire to do so the legally
               | required privacy compliance officer would reject their
               | ability to do so. This is especially true at the bigger
               | tech companies wherein they have things like external
               | audits of their privacy compliance policies.
               | 
               | So why is it that so much of Hacker News as a community
               | seems convinced that things aren't like this?
               | 
               | In the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling he talks about
               | ten reasons that people get things wrong. One of them is
               | that people assume that things stay the same rather than
               | changing over time. One of the examples that he used for
               | this is the widely held incorrect belief of a sharp
               | distinction between third world and western countries.
               | While there was once a sharp divide, the actual disparity
               | greatly diminished. However, the legacy of that disparity
               | continued to exist in the minds of people who weren't
               | aware of the shifting distributions. As a result of these
               | sort of shifting distributions one of the things he
               | encourages in the book is regularly refreshing knowledge
               | on a subject. I think something similar is happening
               | here. A kind of nhilistic worldview in which things don't
               | improve leads to people not updating their understanding
               | of the world that changed in response to their
               | frustration.
        
           | maxerickson wrote:
           | My 2013 car is not particularly laden with gizmos and has
           | been very easy to repair (no real breakdowns...).
        
             | wrkronmiller wrote:
             | It depends a lot on the car and the engine.
             | 
             | If you want a high-performance engine that meets modern
             | emissions requirements, you're probably going to be looking
             | at EFI and turbochargers. Changing the fuel injection maps
             | on a modern car requires something akin to rooting/flashing
             | an Android.
        
               | maxerickson wrote:
               | EFI is pretty much all upside though. When things do go
               | wrong, the engine just tells you what the problem is.
        
               | pengaru wrote:
               | > If you want a high-performance engine that meets modern
               | emissions requirements, you're probably going to be
               | looking at EFI and turbochargers. Changing the fuel
               | injection maps on a modern car requires something akin to
               | rooting/flashing an Android.
               | 
               | It's also _federally_ _illegal_ , I don't know why you've
               | veered this thread into ease of performing illegal
               | modifications.
        
               | profile53 wrote:
               | Incidentally, rooting an android tablet is federally
               | illegal too.
        
               | pengaru wrote:
               | Are you referring to the DMCA?
               | 
               | The closest analog with smartphones to federal emissions
               | laws is more like the FCC prohibiting hacking the
               | baseband ostensibly to protect the cellular network.
        
               | mehrdada wrote:
               | Not everyone lives in your jurisdiction. I don't know why
               | you would be quick to police the discussion, as talking
               | about how something works is done does not mean you
               | intend to do it (and is well within the scope of "Hacker"
               | News).
        
         | capableweb wrote:
         | I agree with your general comment, but I don't think any of
         | those things can be classified as "personal data". How are you
         | gonna identify a user based on values from those parameters?
         | 
         | GDPR, while not perfect, describes "personal data" to be:
         | 
         | > The data subjects are identifiable if they can be directly or
         | indirectly identified, especially by reference to an identifier
         | such as a name, an identification number, location data, an
         | online identifier or one of several special characteristics,
         | which expresses the physical, physiological, genetic, mental,
         | commercial, cultural or social identity of these natural
         | persons.
         | 
         | https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/personal-data/
        
           | ectopod wrote:
           | From the preceding paragraph:
           | 
           | > Personal data are any information which are related to an
           | identified or identifiable natural person.
           | 
           | Tesla already knows who you are so _any_ data they capture is
           | personal data.
        
             | capableweb wrote:
             | > Tesla already knows who you are so any data they capture
             | is personal data.
             | 
             | That's not how that works. Just because IP is personal data
             | doesn't mean that the event "user clicked on this button"
             | is personal data...
        
           | Retric wrote:
           | Given enough of that data you should be able to trace which
           | roads most users drive on and where they park their car. That
           | seems like personal data to me. Don't forget they should have
           | a full database of VIN numbers they can already look up a
           | list of owners.
        
           | Nextgrid wrote:
           | Fingerprinting? There is research around identifying users
           | purely based on their keystroke patterns which are apparently
           | fairly unique. I wouldn't be surprised if driving (and
           | probably a lot of other activities involving physical
           | movements) has the same potential for fingerprinting.
        
         | mehrdada wrote:
         | While Tesla knows more info about how you use or operate the
         | car, the big piece that matters to your privacy is arguable the
         | vehicle location and that is not at all unique to Tesla. Many
         | (most?) vehicles produced in the last decade have a GSM modem
         | that pretty much continuously leaks your data at least to the
         | cellular networks, and likely the vehicle
         | manufacturer/operator. I used to physically remove the modem
         | from my cars were possible.
        
       | aeharding wrote:
       | Car crashes are taken very seriously in The Netherlands. It's
       | refreshing to hear investigation into systemic problems vs
       | personal responsibility regarding crashes, common in many other
       | countries (see link).
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/Ra_0DgnJ1uQ?t=209
        
         | Aachen wrote:
         | To save others from having to pass a cookie wall to even see
         | what you're talking about, the link is (predictably) from Not
         | Just Bikes: why there are fewer vehicles crashing into
         | buildings in the Netherlands versus USA.
        
         | dddw wrote:
         | I heard on Dutch news Tesla shares the data anyway if there is
         | a crash involved.
        
       | driverdan wrote:
       | Are there any current or upcoming electric four wheel vehicles
       | that aren't a privacy nightmare?
        
         | novok wrote:
         | Unfortunately, the new gas vehicles being sold today are also
         | privacy nightmares, just look closely.
        
       | GeorgeTirebiter wrote:
       | I'm not sure folks understand the comm arch in a Tesla. CAN
       | probably still is the main way data are slogged around between
       | ECUs (this info is five years old). CAN works by broadcasting
       | data values at some periodic rate (1 PPS, 10 PPS, 100 PPS
       | usually) and there is no 'publish/subscribe' except that all data
       | are 'published' and any ECU can listen. What the other ECU does
       | with the data, the originator doesn't know. If one of those ECUs
       | listening is the 'gateway' then it can pluck off the main CAN bus
       | anything it likes, and store it for as long as it likes, and
       | upload whatever it wants. New GW FW can be OTA loaded to save and
       | upload different types of data.
       | 
       | In Teslas, there are two main CAN busses: the regular one and the
       | 'secure' one that does the brakes and other safety stuff. There
       | is NO connection between the two; but there is a secured path
       | where the gateway can listen & get data from the secure one. The
       | point here is that vehicle safety CAN bus is likely unhackable
       | remotely, as there simply is no RF path writing onto that bus.
       | (all bets are off if you have the vehicle, physically). I believe
       | all previous exploits have been fixed.
       | 
       | And one more thing: ECUs have some amount of on-board flash that
       | is used during a crash/power loss scenario. The "dump important
       | stuff to flash" CAN command causes the ECU to take an NMI-style
       | interrupt and do it. Also, if the ECU's own power monitor notices
       | the ECU is about to lose power, there is enough energy storage on
       | board to operate for maybe a few hundred ms. The important stuff
       | is saved.
       | 
       | Every ECU must have a way to OTA its code. E V E R Y O N E,
       | including some door lock or whatever (essentially LIN to CAN
       | gatewaying). There are no, as in ZERO, exceptions to this rule.
       | (or, there weren't as of five years ago, ymmv)
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | > If one of those ECUs listening is the 'gateway' then it can
         | pluck off the main CAN bus anything it likes
         | 
         | Except if there is some kind of encryption, I suppose.
        
       | beezischillin wrote:
       | It looks to me like Tesla's an AI company masquerading as a car
       | maker with the real goal to take in as much data as necessary for
       | their various AI projects to succeed.
        
         | ctvo wrote:
         | Or an explanation that doesn't require such giant leaps: they
         | want to capture as much data as possible in case they ever need
         | it and know there's nothing stopping them, so why not.
        
           | mrshadowgoose wrote:
           | I'm not really sure where the giant leaps are.
           | 
           | Fact 1: Tesla is attempting to develop a self-driving system
           | that is based on machine learning.
           | 
           | Fact 2: Training machine learning systems requires training
           | data. Having large amounts of real training data is highly
           | desirable.
           | 
           | So a single step?
           | 
           | I'm sure that Tesla also benefits from being able to defend
           | against false claims that would tarnish their image[1], but
           | please don't be disingenuous about their machine learning
           | goals.
           | 
           | [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/01/08/
           | tes...
        
             | beezischillin wrote:
             | I'm not going to deny that their cars are standout and that
             | they sell well, if you wanted to collect a lot of data you
             | need a good and hip product to piggyback onto. But I don't
             | necessarily think the car is the end goal. If they manage
             | to crack autonomous driving fully first thanks to
             | collecting all that data it will be such a product that it
             | makes the car irrelevant and it will genuinely change the
             | course of history. Of course that's just my gut feeling
             | about it. It's not all that unlikely if you look at the
             | extent of what Silicon Valley is willing to go to just to
             | show you ads, from creating the world's most popular smart
             | phone OS to a giant video sharing site to voice assistants
             | to pioneering vr to creating the world's most popular web
             | browser and I could go on :)
        
             | ctvo wrote:
             | The giant leap is Tesla is an AI company. Most companies
             | gather data if they can, you wouldn't call them an AI
             | company. A concrete example: Amazon, Walmart, and Target
             | collect a lot of data on their respective ecommerce
             | websites. Are they AI companies? They also and use train
             | machine learning models.
             | 
             | Tesla is trying to fix left turn regressions [1] in an if
             | statement it introduced with its latest over the air
             | update. Working on getting an iteratively better lane /
             | cruise control assist is something many auto companies are
             | doing, and that also doesn't make them AI companies.
             | 
             | 1 - https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1451907229796417542
             | 
             | Edit:
             | 
             | By the way, here's Elon re: machine learning and Tesla.
             | 
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyqw3EMCckU
        
               | jhgg wrote:
               | I mean in the same event that you list, Elon literally
               | opens with: "Tesla is much more than an automotive
               | company, and we have lots of deep AI activity..." I think
               | it is fair to say that a company that is literally
               | inventing its own AI training supercomputer is probably
               | an AI company as well :)
               | 
               | https://youtu.be/j0z4FweCy4M?t=2833
        
       | a_paddy wrote:
       | If they have decrypted the data then this is a story with much
       | bigger repercussions. What they may have done is decoded the data
       | from the log files, which could have been in a proprietary or
       | obfuscated format.
        
       | tenuousemphasis wrote:
       | >"That makes it interesting, because who is responsible for the
       | following distance: the car or the driver?" said NFI investigator
       | Aart Spek.
       | 
       | That's easy. The driver sets the autopilot follow distance.
        
         | lazide wrote:
         | And if it doesn't follow the setting, either due to a bug or
         | misinterpreting something (bad sensor, bad sensor reading)?
        
           | speedgoose wrote:
           | It's the driver fault to not detect the event and to not take
           | control, press the brake pedal, as far as I know.
           | 
           | When you engage the adaptive cruise control on any car brand,
           | you are still very much responsible to not crash in the front
           | car.
        
       | raylad wrote:
       | The paper this article is based on:
       | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355202701_Reverse_e...
        
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