Teslas become non-grata cars in certain areas of Berlin. In question, their cameras which permanently record the environment. German authorities are wondering what Tesla does next with this data.
This is yet another privacy protection problem that legislators, manufacturers and why not insurers will have to address in the years to come. The famous dashcams, these on-board cameras which make it possible to film the environment of a vehicle, especially in the event of an accident, are today the very essence of Tesla, known to have had this equipment for a long time. And Germans don’t joke about privacy. In 2017, a driver who had fitted her vehicle with on-board cameras reported video of a vehicle hitting hers while parked. But rather than take her complaint, the police prosecuted her for having filmed a person without her consent. ! If they are not totally prohibited on the other side of the Rhine, these cameras therefore pose legal problems, and their use is highly regulated. And Tesla owners will quickly experience it.
In Berlin, Teslas are no longer welcome
In several districts of Berlin, and in particular in front of certain administrative and official buildings such as the large police office or the prefecture, Tesla should no longer be allowed. In an internal memo, the police say they “fear” the use of data recorded by Teslas driving or parking in these areas. German law enforcement is opposed in particular to the fact that these recordings are theoretically then sent to Tesla’s major nerve center in the Netherlands.
This decision joins that of China, which has banned all Teslas from certain areas, such as the surroundings of military installations or in the Beidaihe region, where all the major leaders of the Communist Party meet during the summer.
The new car factories of #You’re here in Texas and Berlin “lose billions of dollars” due to battery shortages and port problems in #China 🇨🇳 said CEO Elon Musk 🎥 @Reuters
pic.twitter.com/lXHKeQ6SpE— AsiaNews (@AsiaNews_FR) June 23, 2022
Meanwhile, still in Germany, Tesla would lose colossal sums due to a lack of qualified personnel and shortages of parts coming from Asia, according to the Reuters agency.