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How was she celebrated: As ‘prime minister with a Tesla’, then Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard (60) made headlines across Europe when she presented her Tesla, Model S 85, as a company car in 2014. The Minister of the Environment and Transport later gave the Tesla to her successor, Simonetta Sommaruga (63), who has also resigned.
Nowadays, Tesla is mainly an issue when it comes to data protection: the electric car films its surroundings while driving. Even conversations in the car are recorded. The data is transferred to company servers in the US and evaluated (by whoever). This raises the question: did photos of the federal council members also end up there?
All Teslas equipped with monitoring mode
The electric car manufacturer and the Federal Office for Armaments (Armasuisse), which purchases the state limousines, gave their approval years ago. They assured: the vehicles would neither record conversations nor send them to a Tesla server in the United States. Everything according to federal guidelines.
Nevertheless, the question of whether Leuthard and Sommaruga were driving American spies around in their official Tesla is also a matter of political concern. St. Gallen SVP Landraad Roland Rino Büchel (58) wants to know from the Federal Council during question time in the National Council next Monday whether there are cars driving around in Switzerland that are equipped with a so-called ‘guard function’. And whether information obtained in this way is passed on to other countries.
Blick asked these questions to the highest Swiss data protection officer (Edöb) Adrian Lobsiger (65). He makes it clear: “All Teslas are equipped with monitoring mode.” He therefore recommends switching them off in public spaces, i.e. in road traffic and in public parking lots and parking garages.
Private individuals are not allowed to film in public spaces
Because: “Private individuals in Switzerland are generally not allowed to film in public spaces,” said the data protection officer. The cameras installed in vehicles would particularly raise questions about two principles of the Personal Data Protection Act.
On the one hand, they violate the required transparency because the cameras run secretly and those involved do not know that they are being filmed. On the other hand, they violate proportionality. Because: A permanent registration of all road users is not necessary and therefore disproportionate. The Edöb recommends turning off surveillance mode, at least in public areas.
Swiss must agree to data transfer
But most importantly, because the US does not have an equivalent level of data protection to Switzerland, Tesla can only transfer the data of its Swiss customers with their consent. According to Edöb, this is usually obtained when concluding the contract. “Voluntarily, after clear and extensive information.”
But the data protection officer’s comments also make it clear: no one can guarantee that Tesla data from the Federal Council has not flowed to the US. It will be interesting to see what the government says on Monday in response to Büchel’s questions.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
