Tesla sued after report that workers shared invasive images from car cameras

Enlarge / Tesla cars charging on July 17, 2022, in Nephi, Utah. (credit: Getty Images | George Frey )

Tesla is facing a class action complaint after it was revealed that employees used an internal messaging system to share sensitive videos and images of customers taken by car cameras.

Plaintiff Henry Yeh, a California resident who owns a Model Y, sued Tesla on Friday on behalf of himself and all other people in the US who owned or leased a Tesla any time in the past four years. The lawsuit draws from allegations in a Reuters article that was based on interviews with nine former Tesla employees.

"Tesla captures recordings of people vulnerable on their own property, in their own garages, and even in their own homes, including at least one instance where Tesla cameras captured video of a man naked in his home," the lawsuit said. "Tesla also captured and disseminated videos and images of customers' pets and even their children—a group that society has long recognized as vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation. Indeed, parents' interest in their children's privacy is one of the most fundamental liberty interests society recognizes."