Tesla vehicles come equipped with a cabin-facing camera, often referred to as the “Tesla Cabin Camera.” This camera is located near the rearview mirror inside the vehicle’s cabin and is intended for specific safety and security purposes.

Until 2023, Tesla owners have already twice encountered the work of the Tesla Cabin Camera.

For the first time, the Sentry Mode, which activates recording from the car’s cameras in case of potential danger, appeared in the Tesla car back in 2019.

Then Tesla released a software update, where, among other things, there is a function of access to the cameras of the car in real-time.

This way, you can remotely view the surroundings of your car when you’re parked to make sure your surroundings are safe before you get back into your car. The camera footage is encrypted and inaccessible to Tesla.

Next, Tesla went further and began using cameras in the cabin to monitor the driver when full self-driving or autopilot modes were activated.

After all, judging by numerous reports on the network, drivers often deceived the former Tesla system when using autopilot.

Purpose of the Tesla Cabin Camera

The primary purpose of the Tesla Cabin Camera is to support Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and safety features. It assists with features such as driver monitoring and alertness detection, ensuring that the driver remains attentive and focused while using features like Autopilot or Tesla’s Full Self-Driving capability. The camera may monitor the driver’s attention level and provide warnings if it detects signs of distraction or potential disengagement from the driving task.

In addition to driver monitoring, the Cabin Camera can also contribute to the security of the vehicle. Tesla owners have the option to enable a feature called “Tesla Sentry Mode,” which acts as a surveillance system when the vehicle is parked and locked. The Cabin Camera, along with other vehicle sensors, can record and store video footage if suspicious activity, such as someone approaching or tampering with the vehicle, is detected.

And now the owners of such machines have become available to its extended version.

In update 2023.2, Tesla will allow owners to view their interior camera directly from the car. This will give users an idea of what the camera can and cannot see when activated, which will hopefully provide peace of mind.

To view the live broadcast from the interior camera, you will be able to go to “Control” > “Service” > “Camera Preview” after receiving this latest update.

 

If the camera in the cockpit is viewed remotely when the “Watchman” or “Dog” mode is turned on, a message will appear on the screen allowing all people inside the car to know that they are being watched.

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FAQs

Does Tesla record inside the cabin?

By default, images, and video from the camera do not leave the vehicle itself and are not transmitted to anyone, including Tesla,  unless you enable data sharing.

Can you turn off Tesla cabin camera?

The simple way to disable the Tesla cabin camera is to put a bit of black tape over the lens.  It’s located behind the rearview mirror.  There is an opt-in setting to allow data from the camera to be sent anonymously to Tesla for training purposes.  It will be off already unless you turned it on.

Is Tesla camera always recording?

When your vehicle is in Park, touching the Dashcam icon brings up the Viewer. To protect your privacy, video recordings are saved locally to a formatted USB flash drive’s onboard memory. Recordings are not sent to Tesla. Your vehicle does not record videos when Dashcam is Off.

Does Tesla cabin camera have audio?

The device can record audio using the integrated microphone while recording video. You can turn the audio recording on or off at any time. TIP: You can also use voice controls to enable or disable audio recording (Voice Control). The microphone LED turns red while the audio is recording.