On August 14, in response to recent online concerns about the "Sentry Mode," Tesla official provided an explanation as follows:
Sentry Mode (referred to as "Guardian Mode" by some brands) is a smart safety feature that comes standard with mainstream smart cars and is not exclusive to Tesla. When Tesla vehicles leave the factory, this feature is turned off by default. Owners need to manually activate it to use.
After manually enabling Sentry Mode, when the vehicle is locked and in park, if threats such as potential damage or theft are detected nearby, the system will alert the owner and record any suspicious activities around the vehicle. Video clips of these activities are saved onto an installed USB device, offering users added security. To date, this feature has assisted law enforcement in solving numerous cases of vehicle damage and theft. Unlike some brands that allow owners to remotely view the surroundings of the car through Sentry Mode, data for Tesla vehicles are currently only stored offline on an in-car USB device, and neither the owner nor Tesla can remotely access or view this data online.
