Toyota confirms 2 million Toyota users face risk of vehicle data leak in Japan

Toyota Motor Corp announced on Friday that human mistake had allowed the car data of 2.15 million users in Japan, or nearly the entire customer base, to become publicly available for a decade.

A spokesperson confirmed the shocking development in a statement on Friday. 

A cloud system was accidentally turned to public rather than private, which caused the problem, which started in November 2013 and continued until mid-April, the Toyota spokeswoman stated.

The event, which also had an impact on Lexus luxury brand consumers, occurred as the largest automaker in the world by sales increased its focus on cloud-based data management and vehicle connectivity, which are both essential for delivering autonomous driving and other AI-supported capabilities.

“There was a lack of active detection mechanisms, and activities to detect the presence or absence of things that became public,” the spokesperson said

Customers who subscribed to the T-Connect service, which offers a variety of services like AI voice-enabled driving assistance, automatic connection to call centres for vehicle management, and emergency support in situations like a traffic accident or severe illness, were among those affected.