Toyota North America Faces Lawsuit Over Driver Data Sharing

Data Sharing at Toyota North America Leads to Lawsuit

Toyota North America is facing a class-action lawsuit in Texas. The plaintiffs accuse the automaker of unlawfully sharing driver data with third parties, specifically the data service provider Connected Analytic Services (CAS).

The lawsuit stems from the case of Philip Siefke, a Florida resident who bought a new Toyota RAV4 in 2021. When applying for insurance with Progressive, he was informed that the insurance company already had access to his vehicle's telemetry data. Progressive had received this data from the data broker CAS, a partner company of Toyota Insurance Management Solutions (TIMS). CAS and Toyota Motor North America maintain a partnership, the scope of which was expanded in 2022.

The data shared between Toyota Motor, TIMS, CAS, and Progressive included vehicle locations, speed, braking and evasive maneuvers, and driving style data, such as cornering behavior. Siefke claims he was not informed of a data agreement at the time of purchase and did not give express consent to the data sharing. The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit state that they suffered "actual damages" through the data sharing in the form of a "diminution in value of their driving data, violation of their privacy rights, and the likelihood of future theft of their driving data."

Similar issues arose last year in Europe when Cariad, a VW subsidiary, made a database of driver data from newer models of the VW, Seat, Audi, and Skoda brands publicly accessible. In this case, the location data and other information of individual drivers were discovered by data privacy activists. From such information, home and work addresses, as well as details about the drivers' lifestyles – such as which stores are visited, where the car is parked overnight, or which gyms and bars are frequented – can be derived relatively easily. In the German case, the disclosed information also contained data on the lifestyles of controversial politicians and several public figures.

The information collected by vehicle telemetry in newer vehicle models is typically sent to the manufacturers or their partner companies. Owners can access their data via a mobile app or a web interface to review their driving habits and vehicle performance. In many cases, however, the manufacturer or partner shares aggregated data with each other and has the opportunity to monetize this information on the data broker market.

The purchase of a new car involves a considerable amount of paperwork for the buyer. Therefore, references to data sharing in the various terms and conditions surrounding the sale, the financing agreement, the insurance, maintenance, and service contracts can be easily overlooked.

Several insurance companies offer discounted rates for drivers willing to install a so-called "black box" in their vehicle, which records and reports driving habits and style to reward cautious and accident-free drivers. With newer vehicle models, however, such devices are effectively built-in, providing the manufacturer with a wealth of demographic information about the drivers.

Manufacturers use telemetry data to support the planning of supporting infrastructure, such as the placement of charging stations, and to proactively identify mechanical problems with a vehicle before they become problematic. However, it is also evident that such data offers new revenue streams, which in some cases are being exploited without the consent of the drivers.

Bibliographie: - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/privacy-alert-toyota-allegedly-selling-driving-data-to-data-brokers-and-insurance-companies-without-drivers-consent-302436560.html - https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/toyota-sued-for-sharing-drivers-data-with-progressive-insurance - https://www.wptv.com/money/consumer/automotive/florida-driver-suing-toyota-progressive-connected-analytic-services-over-data-sharing - https://iottechnews.com/news/ - https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/04/23/821018.htm - https://epic.org/documents/cahen-v-toyota-motor-corporation/ - https://securityaffairs.com/167274/data-breach/zerosevengroup-toyota-data-breach.html - https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2025/04/30/texas-suit-alleges-unuthorized-data-sharing-by-toyota-progressive-and-data-broker/ - https://techwireasia.com/2023/12/how-has-toyota-suffered-so-many-data-breaches/