A former Tesla employee-turned-whistleblower has alerted UK authorities a couple of potential safety threat regarding the EV maker’s supposed dealing with of worker information. Lukasz Krupski, who joined Tesla in 2018, alleged that private data, together with passport numbers, medical particulars, and salaries of present and former Tesla workers the world over, amongst others, are accessible to employees, together with these in China, by way of inside techniques.
In his communication with the Data Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO), the UK’s privateness watchdog, Krupski claimed that Tesla’s delicate information was housed on a venture monitoring software program referred to as Jira, which was accessible to Tesla employees with out restrictions. The whistleblower warned that this poses a safety threat since people in China or Russia with probably conflicting agendas may entry the knowledge.
In a remark to The Telegraph, the Tesla whistleblower famous that such information might be used towards the West. “It might be very helpful for Russian or Chinese language intelligence. People in these nations who’ve energy, they’ve their very own agendas which (do) not essentially align with the Western world,” Krupski famous.
Among the many information that might be accessed are particulars about different Tesla workers. These embrace CEO Elon Musk, whose private particulars are reportedly within the system. And whereas Tesla employed over 127,000 employees final yr, the database reportedly additionally contains individuals who have left the corporate, together with their causes for doing so.
Earlier this yr, Tesla famous that it had tightened the safety across the system. Beforehand, the corporate acknowledged that the database might be accessed by anybody who has entry to a legitimate Tesla electronic mail handle. Journalists at Handelsblatt, who acquired Krupski’s leaked Tesla recordsdata, have famous that there have been indications that China-based Tesla workers had contributed to Jira tickets.
Krupski, who has described himself as a longtime electrical automobile fanatic and a “Tesla believer,” is thought for his whistleblowing actions. Earlier this yr, he shared a considerable amount of information with German newspaper Handelsblatt. The leaked information, which media businesses have dubbed the “Tesla Information,” included, amongst different issues, complaints from prospects about Tesla’s driver-assist techniques.
Krupski has additionally been interviewed by the US Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) and the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC). Each businesses have ongoing probes into Tesla’s self-driving program. The UK ICO, for its half, has not issued a remark about whether or not it had regarded into the Tesla whistleblower’s claims. Tesla has additionally not posted a remark concerning the matter as of writing.
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