Tesla sued by California man after employees shared intrusive videos taken by car cameras

Accusing it of violating customers' privacy, a California Tesla owner sued the electric vehicle manufacturer on Friday, as per reports. Tesla which is known for its innovation in electric vehicle technology now faces a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. A class-action lawsuit is usually the one whereat least one person actsas a representative of the whole group of persons or entities sharing same concerns.

This comes after a Thursday report that groups of Tesla employees had secretly shared very intrusivevideos and images taken by customers' car cameras between 2019 and 2022 via an internal messaging system.

Henry Yeh, a resident of San Francisco and owner of a Model Y from Tesla, filed the case. Heclaimedthat Tesla employeeshad access to the pictures and videos for their "tasteless and tortious"enjoyment at the cost of"humiliation"of individuals who weresecretly filmed.

Jack Fitzgerald, an attorney representing Yeh, told Reuters, "Like anyone would be, Mr Yeh was outraged at the idea that Tesla's cameras can be used to violate his family's privacy, which the California Constitution scrupulously protects."

"Tesla needs to be held accountable for these invasions and for misrepresenting its lax privacy practices to him and other Tesla owners," Fitzgerald said. It's worth noting that Tesla has earlier stated that it takes privacy seriously. However, no comments have yet been made by Tesla on the lawsuit filed.

Which recordings were leaked?

A few of the clips showed Tesla owners in awkward circumstances. For instance, a video of a man approaching a car being entirely nude was recounted by one ex-employee.

In another video, an ex-employee said a Tesla was shown in a collision video from 2021 travelling quickly through a residential neighbourhood before striking a child riding a bike. Both the child and the bike flew in opposite directions.

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The ex-employee said that the video circulated "like wildfire" through private chats within the Tesla headquarters in San Mateo, California. Tesla's actions in the lawsuitwere described as "especially flagrant" and "extremely insulting" in the lawsuit.

As per reports, the petitioner was filing the complaint "against Tesla on behalf of himself, similarly-situated class members, and the general public."

"Indeed, parents’ interest in their children’s privacy is one of the most fundamental liberty interests society recognises," the lawsuit said.

Moreover, the complaint urged the court to "enjoin Tesla from engaging in its wrongful behaviour, including violating the privacy of customers and others, and to recover actual and punitive damages."

(With inputs from agencies)

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