IG Metall concerned
Apparently a larger data leak at the electric car manufacturer Tesla
A major data leak at Tesla is causing concern
There has apparently been a major data leak at the electric car manufacturer Tesla. The data protection authorities from Germany and the Netherlands are already investigating. The union IG Metall expressed concern.
There has apparently been a major data leak at the electric car manufacturer Tesla. The Düsseldorf “Handelsblatt” reported on Friday that a total of 100 gigabytes of confidential data had been leaked to it, said to come from Tesla’s IT systems. This includes a lot of sensitive and personal information about customers, employees and business partners. Data protection authorities from Germany and the Netherlands are already investigating.
According to the “Handelsblatt”, an informant contacted the Brandenburg data protection authorities in April. Tesla operates a large factory in Grünheide in Brandenburg. If the indications are confirmed, “the matter would be particularly serious from a data protection point of view, also because of the large number of people affected worldwide,” said a spokesman for the data protection officer to the “Handelsblatt”.
Data leak at Tesla: This data has been affected
According to the report, the data includes confidential information about more than 100,000 employees, including private addresses and salaries. Some of the documents also deal with projects such as the self-driving car, the development of new battery cells or the planned Cybertruck electric pickup.
According to the report, Tesla suspects a “disgruntled former employee”. He misused his access as a service technician to pass on the information. Tesla wants to take legal action against the ex-employee.
“These revelations are disturbing and at the same time fit into the picture that we have gained in almost two years from our own impressions and descriptions of our colleagues at Tesla,” said IG Metall. Apparently, “the employees’ most personal data is open to every conceivable form of abuse.” At the same time, the company management puts a lot of pressure on these employees to commit to far-reaching confidentiality obligations and hires a security intelligence investigator who is also supposed to investigate violations off the company premises. This unsettles many employees.
The union called for workers to be “extensively informed” about all violations of data protection rights. She recommended that Tesla management promote a corporate culture “in which employees can raise problems and grievances openly and without fear”.