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Tesla said it didn't have key data in a fatal crash, then a hacker found it

(www.washingtonpost.com)
650 points clcaev | 1 comments | 29 Aug 25 11:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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metaphor ◴[29 Aug 25 12:25 UTC] No.45063162[source]▶
> Immediately after the wreck at 9:14 p.m. on April 25, 2019, the crucial data detailing how it unfolded was automatically uploaded to the company’s servers and stored in a vast central database, according to court documents. Tesla’s headquarters soon sent an automated message back to the car confirming that it had received the collision snapshot.

> Moments later, court records show, the data was just as automatically “unlinked” from the 2019 Tesla Model S at the scene, meaning the local copy was marked for deletion, a standard practice for Teslas in such incidents, according to court testimony.

Wow...just wow.

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raincole ◴[29 Aug 25 13:09 UTC] No.45063632[source]▶
The 'wow' part is that they deleted data from server. The part you quoted sounds like nothing unusual to me.
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lexicality ◴[29 Aug 25 13:16 UTC] No.45063732[source]▶
You don't think it's unusual that the software is designed to delete crash data from the crashed car?
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Thorrez ◴[29 Aug 25 13:33 UTC] No.45063911{3}[source]▶
The question is whether this is code that's special for crashes, or code that runs the exact same way for all data uploads, regardless of whether there's a crash.

You're implying it's special for crashes, but we don't know that.

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1. dylan604 ◴[29 Aug 25 13:47 UTC] No.45064087{4}[source]▶
You have it backwards. The fact that after the special condition of a crash it still allows the data to be deleted is an issue. Sure, deleting of normal data is fine, but it clearly detected a crash and did not mark the file in the special crash mode as do not delete is mind boggling. Everyone knows that in a crash detection mode that the data is very important. Not having code to ensure data retention is the laziest at best way of doing things or malevolently designed at worst. Tesla and its leadership do not deserve at best as our default choice.