The cabin camera has been a controversial feature since the very first Model 3 rolled off the production line in 2017.
As the name implies, the tiny camera mounted above the rear-view mirror was pointed towards the cabin of the car, raising concerns about privacy, even though Tesla said it was not turned on.
Those concerns resulted in many owners purchasing camera covers to prevent any prying eyes from watching occupants inside their car.
If that was you, and you are one day hoping to download and use the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software, you are going to have to leave the cover open, or just remove it altogether.
With the release of FSD Beta V10.2, Tesla now requires the camera to be unobstructed in order to activate Autopilot.
Cabin camera is covered or blinded
Uncover camera to engage Autopilot pic.twitter.com/dJIyblb2Ad
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) October 11, 2021
Even though the cabin camera was included in vehicles since 2017, it was only turned on earlier this year.
At first it was turned on as an added safety feature, recording short clips during a safety event like a collision. Those clips would then be sent to Tesla to help develop future safety features. The feature still required owner consent to share the data.
Later the camera was used for driver-monitoring. The new feature was first included in new cars, where the cabin camera “can now detect and alert driver inattentiveness while Autopilot is engaged.”
Other future uses for the cabin camera include Sentry Mode, and maybe even for virtual meetings.
The cabin camera in your Model 3 will soon be used for Sentry Mode
