'I Am In Your Car. I Am In Your Maps,' Abuser Terrorizes Ex Using 'Parental Controls' And Tesla's App

Several auto manufacturers offer ways for parents to monitor their teen drivers, or limit the car's capabilities while the teens (or other drivers, like valets) are driving. These systems are intended to enhance safety, but like any tool, they can also be misused. The Guardian tells of one such case in Australia, where an abusive ex remotely harassed a woman using the parental controls of her Tesla.

Enrico Pucci has been convicted of 30 charges related to stalking and abusing this woman, for whom The Guardian uses the false name Stacey. Most of Pucci's charges are for horrible things that have nothing to do with turning her Tesla against her. But what he did with her car demonstrates not only the inconvenience, but also the danger such systems intended for safety can put a driver into when misused by the wrong people. And it should be noted that Tesla doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to safety, but any vehicle that provides remote access could be vulnerable in this way.

From The Guardian:

Stacey bought a Tesla car while they were still a couple, the documents said.
After having trouble navigating the technology, Stacey was offered help from Pucci, who said he would need the car to be registered in his name so "he could take control of the Tesla app to 'assist her'".
"The victim agreed, solely for the purpose of assistance with the vehicle technology," the documents said.

Stacey left the relationship in October 2025. The following month, Pucci began using his remote access to her car to harass her.

First, Stacey's car alarm went off several times in the middle of the night. She was afraid to go check on it because she was rightfully afraid of another physical encounter with Pucci. The next morning, she found her car was unharmed, but she was now under the restriction of parental controls that Pucci had put into place. 

According to the Tesla Model 3 Owner's Manual, this enabled Pucci to block access to the car's web browser, theater, and arcade; send curfew notifications if the car was driven between 11:00 pm and 4:00 am; require safety features; limit acceleration to the minimum level; and limit the car's top speed. Some of these restrictions are merely inconvenient, but the alerts on her travel are certainly dangerous for a woman being stalked, and being limited to an absurdly low top speed could become dangerous if Stacey tried to go on roads with higher speed limits.

Beyond parental controls, Pucci had extensive control over the car in other ways through the Tesla app. He could lock and unlock doors at will. He could remotely set the climate control, which he turned both very cold and very hot on various occasions to further harass Stacey. He also remotely interrupted charging sessions, leaving the car without a full charge when she returned.

The most frightening part was that he could monitor the car's location at all times through the app. Pucci could, and did, travel to Stacey's location to harass and intimidate her further. From The Guardian:

Three days later, Pucci, now 50, followed her in a car and started to yell at her about a man she was dating.
"You thought you'd get away with this. I am in your car. I am in your maps," he shouted at her, according to the police records.

Yikes.

Unlike some issues, this is not a problem specific to Tesla. For example, I can monitor my camper van's location through the Ford app. No tracker device is necessary because this function is built into the van. That means when my wife drives it without me, I could track her. I don't, because I trust her and I'm not a creeper, but this technology exists even in a simple Ford Transit and in many cars on the road today. 

Pucci was able to exert this specific kind of control over Stacey's car because he had the Tesla app login for it. The first step to securing your own vehicle is to set up your own account through the manufacturer's app before anyone else does. Even if you never use the app again, this means that you, and only you, have access to remote lock/unlock functions, location tracking, and any other information it provides. If you need help setting this up, make sure to get it from someone you trust, and keep all passwords to yourself.

If someone has access to your car and that relationship goes south, make sure to not only take back the keys, but also revoke any access you previously granted through an app. Remove their phone from your infotainment system. If the person is unwilling to provide the keys, you may be able to get your remaining keys reprogrammed so that the missing key no longer works to activate any electronic functions. That wouldn't block a physical entry with a physical key like it was in the 1900s, but it would still prevent someone with your old key from driving away.