A whistleblower, an alleged Tesla former employee, reportedly leaked a vast amount of data about the electric vehicle giant to the German publication Handelsblatt.
The data leak encompasses thousands of client complaints about the Musk-led company, especially the full self-driving (FSD) technology, according to the editor’s note the editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt published on May 25.
“The Tesla files contain thousands of reports about complications with the driver assistance systems, complaints of Tesla vehicles suddenly braking at full speed, or accelerating suddenly.”
Sebastian Matthes, Handelsblatt’s editor-in-chief
Legal problems
The “Tesla files” leak may seem just a public relations issue for the company but it could also cause grave legal problems.
It apparently contained 100GB worth of confidential data, including client bank details, 100,000 Tesla employees’ salaries, CEO Musk’s personal vehicle details, and his social security number and product complaints.
Interestingly, most of the leaked data appears to have stemmed from the company’s project management system.
All that considered, the Dutch Data Protection Authority is now investigating the issue.
“We are aware of the Handelsblatt story and we are looking into it.”
An agency spokesperson told Reuters
Tesla could face a $3.3 billion fine
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU’s comprehensive privacy law, permits member states to penalize companies up to 4% of annual revenue for privacy violations.
That said, the Tesla files leak could result in a $3.3 billion punishment for Tesla, which had revenue of $81.46 billion in 2022.
In that case, this potential GDPR fine for Tesla The GDPR penalties would be the highest since the data privacy law took effect in 2018. Additionally, it will exceed the most recent fine imposed on Meta. On May 22, the Irish Data Protection Commission imposed a $1.3 billion fine on Facebook’s parent company for transferring user data illegally between the EU and the US.
See Also:
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Nonetheless, Tesla’s legal department reportedly responded to Handelsblatt when the publication inquired about the leak. A Tesla lawyer ordered that the files be returned and destroyed, warning that the publication violated data protection laws by keeping such material on its own without proper authorization.
