I was just thinking about this the other day with all the privacy leaks. Not that I care if Tesla knows where I work or my kids go to school, but it's a valid concern.
On a technical level? Absolutely yes, the car sends telematics to their server. On a legal level? IANAL, but if you disable data sharing mostly likely not, beyond what's required for services offered.
Can? Yes. Will? You’re not important.
To clarify, I think can is a given. Are they legally allowed to for insurance or whatnot.
Probably not legally allowed but who’s gonna enforce it right now?
You should worry more about your phone.
I suspect the Tesla system can and does track everything including video no matter what our consent says. Even if they don’t use it for research because you opted out I bet if a search warrant were issued they could pull up all of the data.
https://www.tesla.com/support/privacy Tesla absolutely *can* access location data. They say they won't unless at least one of two things is true: 1. You opt to share it. 2. There is a "safety event". I assume this means a crash. There may be other scenarios that qualify. The legality of Tesla accessing your location data is dependent on your legal jurisdiction. The EU, the United States, and China, for example, all have very different laws about user data/privacy. You'd have to research your national/local laws to see what restrictions exist.
Nobody at Tesla cares where u are and it’s only them that theoretically can access location . If privacy is a concern then you should look into your phone that gives massive amounts of your personal data of away to hundreds of apps and databases every hour. Google farms more data than you could imagine and uses it and sells it with your permission. All while cross referencing this data and storing it. Not to mention the things that access your data without your permission. Your phone records your transactions , locations, scrubs your messages and emails , photos , banking etc . And it’s not just Apple . The browsers and apps you use are also doing the same . Anyone with the know how and intent could tell you very detail of everything you’ve done with more accuracy than your own recollection . Sleep tight !
How else do you think the in car maps works?!? You already gave them permission
Have you ever gone to service your Tesla? Have you noticed that you don't need to even give them your key, because they HAVE A MASTER KEY? WHAT DO YOU THINK??!!
btw it's 2026. The more appropriate question would be: What car CAN'T??
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