I discovered that Some of this data can be stored for up to a year, according to the lab. The team was investigating an accident involving a Tesla with Autopilot. In this accident, another vehicle collided after unintentionally braking. Rather than looking for Tesla data, Dutch investigators chose to “reverse engineer” his logs of the company’s data in order to “objectively” assess it. “This data provides a wealth of information for forensic investigators and traffic analysts to assist in criminal investigations following fatal or bodily injury accidents,” says Francis, a digital investigator at NFI.
It’s no secret that Tesla records information about its customers’ driving behavior. This is to improve autopilot for advanced driver assistance systems and make them available to investigators in the event of an accident. But researchers at the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) have found that Tesla vehicles store far more detailed data than previously known, including speed, accelerator pedal position, steering wheel angle and brake application.
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Hoogendijk said in a statement. According to the NFI, Tesla has historically responded to government data requests, but has also omitted much data that could prove useful. “However, Tesla only provides the requested signal for a certain period of time and the log file contains all recorded signals,” the NFI report said. News of the hack could affect U.S. investigators investigating a number of accidents involving Tesla vehicles and emergency vehicles using autopilot. A spokesman for the National Transportation and Highway Safety Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.