Tesla whistleblower leaks 100GB of data, revealing safety complaints

A whistleblower has leaked 100GB of data from Tesla, which includes thousands of safety complaints about the company’s self-driving feature, Autopilot. The data, which was obtained by the German newspaper Handelsblatt, spans from 2015 to 2022 and includes reports of self-acceleration and brake function issues, involuntary emergency braking, phantom stops due to false collision warnings, and more than 1,000 crash reports.

The files include personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 100,000 current and former Tesla employees—including Elon Musk. The leaked data includes social security numbers, salaries, private email addresses, and bank information of Tesla employees.

Tesla Whistleblower Claims Company Downplayed Safety Concerns

The whistleblower, who has not been identified, claims that Tesla has been downplaying the safety concerns raised by its customers and employees. The data shows that Tesla has received thousands of complaints about Autopilot, but the company has only issued a handful of safety recalls.

Tesla has not yet commented on the data leak. However, the company has previously said that Autopilot is a “driver assistance feature” and that drivers must always be prepared to take control of the car.

Data Leak Likely to Further Raise Concerns About Safety of Tesla’s Self-Driving Technology

The data leak comes at a time when Tesla is facing increasing scrutiny over its self-driving technology. In March, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Tesla after reports of several crashes involving Autopilot.

The NHTSA is also investigating Tesla’s use of data collected from its vehicles. The company collects data from its cars, including driver behavior, to improve Autopilot. However, some critics have raised concerns about the company’s data collection practices.

The data leak is likely to further raise concerns about the safety of Tesla’s self-driving technology. It remains to be seen how the NHTSA will respond to the data leak and whether it will take any action against Tesla.

Tesla is known to issue recalls through software updates over the air including for security concerns. It is unclear if any of the alleged Autopilot safety shortcomings have already been resolved. Tesla also runs an active bug bounty and hacking challenge through Bugcrowd, and has responsible security vulnerability disclosure guidelines on its website for security researchers.

Earlier this year at a Pwn2Own hacking contest, an ethical hacking team was able to hack and “own” a Tesla Model 3 MCU within minutes.