Tesla’s controversial Autopilot semi-autonomous driving technology has been the subject of recalls and safety investigations, and now an employee has detailed the troubling way the brand handles its data.
Autopilot is a level 2 automated driving system that combines today’s popular features like adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist.
Published in the United States Business Insider interviewed an anonymous member of Tesla’s Autopilot team, who ‘trains’ the driver assistance system – and its more capable Full Self-Driving sister system – to operate more safely in the real world.
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The unnamed employee’s daily job is to review five to six hours of footage captured by ‘Tesla Vision’ cameras on the company’s vehicles and ‘label’ objects such as road signs, roads and lane markings so the system knows what they are.
Employee concerns about Autopilot were dismissed, even when addressing basic traffic rules that could result in drivers being fined if violated, according to insiders.
“When we have concerns, they are often ignored. There have been times when we have been asked to ignore signs that say ‘No Turns on Red’ or ‘No U-Turns,’” the Tesla employee said. Business Insider.
“Those are the things that make me and my colleagues feel uncomfortable. In some cases, they will listen to us, but other times, the general response is along the lines of, ‘Mind your own business and your own salary.’”
Autopilot has been criticized by many experts because its name misleads drivers about the system’s capabilities.
While Tesla requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel to use Autopilot mode — and will lock them out if the system detects they’re not paying attention — users have previously found ways to bypass the system’s management controls.
This leads to a Tesla recalls more than two million vehicles late last year in the United States, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that existing safety measures were not enough to prevent drivers from misusing Autopilot mode.
Autopilot has been the subject of more than 40 NHTSA investigations, including at least 23 deaths in the United States.
Staff interviewed by Business Insiderwho still works at Tesla, said they initially believed working for the company would be “a great opportunity for my career,” though they now see it as dystopian.
They point to productivity tracked by Flide Time, an employee monitoring software that tracks keystrokes and detects inactivity.
While Tesla provides a 15-minute break and an additional 30 minutes for lunch, the employee said employees could be disciplined for taking too much time “out of the sticker system to review traffic laws or [find] “Tesla labeling policy”, or if their bathroom breaks last too long.
Last yearnews aagency Reuters A group of Tesla employees were caught sharing private photos and videos from customers’ interior and exterior cameras, invading the owners’ privacy, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Tesla employee recounts Business Insider Since then, the company has put in place better policies to reduce the risk of future leaks.
“Tesla has cracked down on image sharing and what we can access afterwards Reuters posted a story about it. They basically told us, ‘If you get caught once, that’s your ticket out the door.’
“After that, you can no longer access the image outside of the allocated group folder, and Tesla has added watermarks to some images so you can easily tell where the image came from if it is redistributed.
“Sometimes people do pass around pictures in the office, especially if it’s something unusual, but it doesn’t happen often.
“There’s something very strange about having this very personal look into someone’s life. It’s weird to see someone’s daily drive, but that’s also a big part of fine-tuning and refining the show.”
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