Toyota Motor North America said it added a data privacy portal to its Toyota and Lexus apps.
The company says implementing the Toyota Data Privacy Portal is the latest step it is taking to make consumer data “more accessible and transparent” and follow privacy protection benchmarks it and 19 other automakers submitted to the Federal Trade Commission in 2014.
The portal can be accessed for vehicles with connected services capabilities that were built in the 2013 model year or later, the company said in a statement Tuesday. The portal can be found in the “account settings” section of the Toyota and Lexus apps.
Consumers who own multiple Toyota or Lexus vehicles can customize privacy and data-sharing settings for each of their vehicles, according to the automaker. In addition, a consumer who shares information with a third party — such as an insurance company — will be able to see what specific data they are sharing within the app.
Adding the portal is part of Toyota’s goal to adhere to the Automotive Consumer Privacy Protection Principles it partnered to establish in 2014, said Zack Hicks, chief digital officer of Toyota Motor North America.
“Part of that commitment is transparency around the collection and processing of connected vehicle data,” Hicks said in a news release. “We are proud to further enhance our level of transparency with the release of Data Privacy Portal, giving consumers a clear sense of when and how their data is used.”
The company says the portal came about after it conducted an “extensive, cross-industry survey to gather insights about what consumers look for regarding privacy.”
Survey results indicated a desire for more concise descriptions of what kind of personal data is gleaned from consumers and their vehicles and how it is used, the company said.
