Toyota admits location data breach affecting 2.15 million customers

Image: Toyota

Toyota has revealed that the locations of 2,150,000 million customers were exposed to potential hackers from November 6, 2013, to April 17, 2023. The data included the vehicle GPS and navigation terminal ID number, the chassis number, and the location and time data of the vehicle. This data came from Toyota’s Connected service, which offers maintenance reminders, entertainment streaming, and emergency assistance to owners. Users of Toyota Connected, G-Link, and G-Book may have been affected.

Toyota also said that video recordings taken outside the car could have been leaked. However, the company claims there is no evidence of data misuse, and no personal information was involved. Unless a potential bad actor knew the VIN (or chassis) number of a car, they wouldn’t have been able to use the data to track someone specifically. The data breach has been fixed, and the data is no longer accessible. Toyota has issued apology notices to affected customers and set up a call center for inquiries.

Source

Toyota accelerates plans for electric vehicles

Toyota has been known for its hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but now it wants to get into battery EVs, too. The company announced its intent to have half of its global sales in 2025 to be from electrified vehicles. The goal is to sell 4.5 million hybrids, with one million EVs either battery- or hydrogen fuel cell-powered. To make sure it hits its target, starting next year, the automaker plans to introduce at least 10 new BEVs. Six of those will be based on the electrified version of its TNGA platform, which is being called e-TNGA. The vehicles will be sold globally. There will also be different electric vehicles that range from SUVs, crossovers, sedans, to MPVs. To make sure they have a steady supply of batteries, Toyota is partnering with China’s CATL and electric car manufacturer BYD.

Source: Autoblog

Toyota now has a self-driving car company to focus on software systems

Toyota fully committing to its autonomous driving initiatives and is now making sure the research it has been working on in the field gets the focus it needs. The company just established the Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development or TRI-AD, for short. It’s a sub-company underneath the Toyota Research Institute, which is already working on the company’s self-driving car programs. Toyota is partnering with auto-parts manufacturer Aisin Seiki and Denso and will be investing US$2.8 billion into the company and hire around 1,000 employees for the company.

The focus of TRI-AD will be on developing software systems for self-driving vehicles. “Building production-quality software is a critical success factor for Toyota’s automated driving program,” said Dr. James Kuffner, the former CTO of TRI and the new CEO of TRI-AD. “This company’s mission is to accelerate software development in a more effective and disruptive way, by augmenting the Toyota Group’s capability through the hiring of world-class software engineers. We will recruit globally, and I am thrilled to lead this effort.”

Source: BGR

Toyota turns your smartphone into a car key with Smart Key Box

Toyota is getting in on the car-sharing industry with a new technology the company has created. Called the Smart Key Box, the Bluetooth-enabled device lets you unlock and start the car with your smartphone. The technology is simple to install. Just place the Smart Key Box on your dashboard. If you plan on earning some money through car-sharing, your customer will be sent a code via an app to access the box—and by extension your car. This code will then be authenticated via Bluetooth when you and your smartphone are near the car. Toyota calls this interaction a “handshake.” The time when your customer can access the Smart Key Box is set and managed by Toyota and based on vehicle reservation. The car manufacturer plans to test this tech in San Francisco next year in partnership with peer-to-peer car-sharing service called Getaround.

Source: The Verge