Tesla agrees to follow Beijing's rules and build a data centre in China

Tesla has said it will build a data centre in China where it will house all info generated by local Tesla owners. In a post to micro-blogging service Weibo that The Reg has shoved through online translation engines, the company said : We have established a data center in China to achieve data storage localization, and will …

[Jim Mitchell]

Hmm, since China thinks Taiwan is part of China, does that mean Tesla has to store Taiwan drivers' data in mainland China as well?

I guess I could just ask John Cena about this...

[MiguelC]

They could do it the other way round?

[bombastic bob]

exactly WHAT data is it storing?

This is a little disturbing. Exactly WHAT data is being stored. GPS data perhaps?

And this, in my view, is one reason NOT to get an electric vehicle, particularly one in which you can NOT disable this "feature".

I unfortunately can see a potential (dystopian) future where everywhere you go is tracked, and even if you get "free charging" in exchange for the data, it's like plugging your car into Fa[e]ceB*** or Tw*tter...

[and I]

Re: exactly WHAT data is it storing?

All cars do this, or any with an online connection. It's unfair to say only EVs do this. Why do you think Alphabet are so keen to provide Android based OS in cars? It's not to give you a fun UI, it's the ton of lovely data about you that they can slurp. To them a car is just a mobile phone on wheels that by default tracks your location, where you go and how long you stay there.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: exactly WHAT data is it storing?

Many cars have had 3G/4G connectivity with telemetry being phoned home out of the box for years now.

My 2014 BWM (pre-facelift, so already had an old infotainment system from a few years earlier), has an emergency hands free phone feature, that doesn't need a paired phone to work (it activates if the car thinks it's been in a crash, or manually).

The Android app also shows you where the car is on a map, using GPS data, it is not talking to the car directly, I'm too far away, so I assume this must be sent via the cars built in 3G link back to head office, which is where the app picks it up from.

So even though that car is too old for things like over-the-air updates, or proper Apple/Android integration (other than basic phone calls and contacts etc.), it still has basic GPS tracking and data connectivity.

I would suspect that most at least mid range+ cars from 10+ years ago, and likely all new cars for the last 5+ years (apart from perhaps some really budget brands), have all basically been phoning home, providing telemetry etc.

After all, as a car company, knowing usage patterns, mileage, number of trips, how far each trip etc, is all useful, to them!

[DJ]

Step into my parlor

said the spider to the fly...