Toyota has made the startling revelation that vehicle data of some 2.15 million owners in Japan was available to the public for almost a decade.
The car manufacturer has revealed that the issue impacts owners who have signed up for its main cloud service platforms. Due to human error, the cloud system was set to public instead of private and while it has been like this since November 2013, Toyota only noticed the mistake in mid-April this year.
Reuters notes that the cloud system includes information like vehicle locations and identification numbers of vehicle devices. The mistake impacts owners that signed up for the service between January 2, 2012 and April 17, 2023.
Those who signed up for Toyota’s T-Connect service are affected. This service includes automatic connection to call centers for important vehicle management, emergency support in the event of an accident, and AI voice-enabled driving assistance. The issue also impacts Lexus owners who have used the G-Link service.
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Toyota is taking steps to avoid a similar issue in the future. It says it will introduce a system to audit cloud settings and will also look to better educate employees on data handling rules and establish a system to continuously monitor important cloud settings. The carmaker added that an investigation into all the cloud environments managed by Toyota Connected Corp is being carried out and that steps were taken to block outside access as soon as the problem was discovered.
This isn’t the only controversy that has impacted Toyota in recent weeks. In late April it was revealed that Toyota-owned Daihatsu had modified the inside lining of the doors of four models for crash tests. The changes were made to prevent parts from breaking into pieces with sharp edges.
