Toyota sold driving data to insurers with obscured customer consent
Toyota sold driving telemetry data from customer vehicles to Progressive Insurance without customers' clear knowledge, allegedly sharing information about specific driving events like hard braking. A Toyota customer sued the automaker and insurer after discovering his driving data had been shared despite believing he had not consented.
What happened
Philip Siefke purchased a Toyota vehicle and later shopped for car insurance with Progressive. The day after he made a hard braking maneuver while driving, Progressive already had detailed information about his driving behavior when he requested a quote.
Progressive attributed the data to Toyota's telemetry system. When Siefke questioned this, a Progressive representative explained that he had agreed to a research project involving car telemetry data sharing, though Siefke disputed having explicitly consented to this.
Siefke sued Toyota, Progressive Insurance, and a third-party data provider in April 2025 over the unauthorized sale of his driving behavior data.
Reported impact
Siefke stated his shock and anger upon discovering that detailed information about his driving habits was shared with an insurance company without his clear knowledge or understanding.
Index analysis
According to Telemetry, an automotive advisory firm, approximately 90% of new cars on the road collect information on driving behavior. Many automakers then sell this information to third parties such as insurance companies.
While car buyers technically must agree to data collection and sale, these agreements are typically buried in fine print documents presented at point of purchase alongside pricing, loan terms, and warranty information. Analysts noted that most people are unaware they are agreeing to the sale of their data when purchasing a vehicle.
Governance controls
Automakers require customers to agree to data collection and sale as a condition of vehicle purchase, but this consent is embedded in lengthy disclosure documents that buyers typically do not carefully review during the transaction process.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.