Tesla faces potential investigation in the Netherlands over major data leak
The leaked trove encompasses a staggering amount of consumer complaints and personal data of Tesla employees.
Informants at Tesla leaked 100GB of data to the German daily Handelsblatt, containing information on customer complaints Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving feature as well as the personal data of Tesla employees. The data trove contains the names of 100.000 of current and former Tesla employees, including CEO Elon Musk, as well as their social security numbers, private email addresses, phone numbers, employee salary information, customer bank details, and confidential manufacturing information.
Tesla’s lawyer alleges that a ‘disgruntled ex-employee’ exploited his access to all this information.
The data protection supervisory authority in the Netherlands, where Tesla’s European headquarters is located, is aware of the case but has declined to comment on whether it has launched an investigation or if it will do so in the future.
The data leak violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the company might face an administrative penalty of up to 4% of its annual sales. This greatly impacts Tesla’s market value since it may result in data leaks and difficulties with the company’s autopilot technology.
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