Nick Carey

LONDON, (Reuters) – The Dutch government’s forensic laboratory said Thursday that it had cracked the highly guarded data storage system of electric carmaker Tesla. This revealed a treasure trove of information that can be used in investigating serious accidents.

Although it was known already that Tesla cars stored data related to accidents, the Netherlands Forensic Institute(NFI) stated that they had found far more data than previously thought.

According to the NFI, the encrypted data revealed that Tesla’s driver assist system Autopilot stored information. The vehicle also records speed, acceleration pedal position, steering angle, brake usage and, depending on the way it is being used, this data may be kept for more than a year.

Francis Hoogendijk, an NFI digital investigator, stated that the data contained a lot of useful information to forensic and traffic accident investigators. “These data can be used in criminal investigations following a fatal or serious traffic accident.”

Tesla has not yet responded to my request for comment.

Dutch scientists claimed that rather than looking for data from Tesla’s computers, they had reverse engineered the data logs. This is where software can be deconstructed and extracted to find information. These data logs are found in Tesla vehicles to “objectively investigate” them.

NFI stated that Tesla encrypted its driver data coded to ensure its technology is secure against other manufacturers. This also protects the privacy of drivers. Owners of cars can ask for their data including footage from the camera in case there is an accident.

Tesla Inc announced earlier in the year it had set up a China site for car data storage. The announcement came as more scrutiny was placed on automakers over the handling of vehicle camera and sensor information.

The Netherlands requires Tesla to provide data when requested by a court. However, by decrypting its code, the NFI can now know more about the data Tesla is keeping and how long it has been stored, Hoogendijk stated.

“You can not claim what is unknown, therefore it is helpful that we know what else exists,” he stated.

Hoogendijk said that this applies also to other carmakers as investigators do not yet know what data they store or how long.

Tesla is able to remotely access data from its cars. The data can be used to improve products or fix problems.

NFI claimed it had data from Tesla Model S models Y, Z, X and mass-market Model 3 to share with other accident analysts.

After a string of accidents involving Tesla vehicles and emergency vehicles, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an official safety probe into Tesla’s Autopilot systems in 765,000 U.S. cars.

NHTSA currently has 12 reports of Tesla-related crashes that involve advanced driver assistance systems or emergency vehicles. NHTSA stated that most incidents occurred after darkness.