Do other drivers need to install an app?

No. Sentry Driver is an owner-only app. Other drivers don't need to install anything or do anything differently. The app uses Tesla's Fleet API to monitor driving behavior directly from the vehicle.

How does Sentry Driver know when someone else is driving?

Sentry Driver uses Bluetooth detection from the owner's phone. When your phone is present in the car, monitoring is disabled. When your phone is not present (meaning someone else is driving), monitoring is automatically enabled.

Does Sentry Driver work with all Tesla models?

Yes, Sentry Driver works with all Tesla models that support the Fleet API, including Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck.

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What Data Does Sentry Driver Access From Your Tesla?

March 18, 2026 by Sentry Driver Team

When you connect a third-party app to your Tesla, you deserve to know exactly what data it can see. Transparency isn’t just good practice — it’s the foundation of trust. This post lays out precisely what Sentry Driver accesses, what we don’t, and how your data is handled.

What Data Sentry Driver Accesses

Sentry Driver connects to your Tesla through the official Fleet API. We request only the data categories needed to provide driving monitoring. Here’s what we access and why:

Vehicle Location (During Trips)

We receive your Tesla’s GPS coordinates while a trip is in progress. This enables:

Geofence alerts — notifications when the vehicle enters or leaves zones you’ve defined
Trip history — route visualization so you can review where the car has been
Context for alerts — knowing where a speeding event occurred, not just that it happened

Location data is only collected during active trips. We do not track your vehicle when it’s parked.

Speed Data

Real-time speed information lets us send speeding alerts when the vehicle exceeds thresholds you’ve configured. You choose the limits — whether that’s a strict 65 mph for a teen driver or a more relaxed 85 mph for a shared vehicle.

Trip Timestamps

We record when trips start and end. This powers:

Curfew monitoring — alerts if the vehicle is driven outside permitted hours
Trip duration tracking — how long each drive lasted
Trip summaries — weekly reports on driving patterns

Driving Events

The Fleet API reports events like hard braking and rapid acceleration. We use these for:

Driving behavior alerts — notifications for aggressive driving patterns
Accident detection — sudden deceleration events that may indicate a collision
Trip scoring — helping drivers understand and improve their habits over time

What We Do NOT Access

This list is just as important as what we do access. Sentry Driver does not have access to:

Camera Footage

We cannot see, download, or access any video from your Tesla’s cameras. Not Sentry Mode recordings, not dashcam footage, not cabin camera feeds. The Fleet API does not provide camera access to third-party apps, and we have no mechanism to obtain it.

Vehicle Controls

Sentry Driver cannot honk the horn, flash the lights, lock or unlock the doors, open the trunk, start the vehicle, or issue any command to your car. We are strictly read-only. We receive data; we never send instructions to the vehicle.

Your Tesla Credentials

When you connect your Tesla account, you authenticate directly with Tesla’s servers through their official OAuth flow. We never see, store, or handle your Tesla username or password. We receive a secure token from Tesla that grants limited access to your vehicle data — nothing more.

Climate and Entertainment

We have no access to HVAC settings, media playback, seat heating, navigation destinations, or any comfort and entertainment features.

Data When Parked

When your Tesla is parked and sleeping, we receive no data. We never wake your vehicle to check its status. This is a deliberate design choice that also means zero battery drain impact when the car is parked.

How Your Data Is Protected

Collecting data responsibly means protecting it at every step.

Encryption in Transit

All communication between your Tesla, Tesla’s servers, Sentry Driver’s servers, and your phone uses TLS 1.3 encryption. Data cannot be intercepted or read in transit.

Encryption at Rest

Your driving data is stored on encrypted servers. Even in the unlikely event of a server breach, the data would not be readable.

Data Minimization

We follow a data minimization principle: we only collect what’s necessary to provide the monitoring service. We don’t vacuum up every data point available through the Fleet API. If a data category isn’t needed for a feature you use, we don’t request it.

Your Right to Delete

You can delete all of your data at any time directly from within the Sentry Driver app. When you request deletion, we remove your driving history, trip data, alert history, and account information from our servers. This is a permanent deletion, not a soft archive.

Who Can See Your Data?

Your driving data is visible only to you — the Tesla owner who set up the Sentry Driver account. We do not:

Share individual driving data with advertisers
Sell user data to third parties
Provide driving data to insurance companies
Allow other drivers to see monitoring data

The data exists for one purpose: to give you visibility into how your Tesla is being driven when you’re not behind the wheel.

Why This Matters

The Tesla ecosystem has seen its share of apps with unclear data practices. Some request broad permissions they don’t need. Others are vague about what they collect and how they use it.

We believe the monitoring relationship should be transparent in both directions. You’re monitoring how your car is being driven, and you should be able to monitor exactly what data we access to do it. No surprises.

Have more questions about data and privacy? Visit our FAQ for detailed answers. Ready to get started? Download Sentry Driver and try it free for 7 days.