Toyota, Progressive Sued: Did Your Car Secretly Sell Your Driving Data?

Case Overview: Toyota, Progressive, and CAS are facing a class action lawsuit alleging they secretly collected and sold sensitive driving data from Toyota vehicles without drivers' knowledge or consent.

Consumers Affected: U.S. owners or lessees of model year 2018 or newer Toyota vehicles equipped with tracking technology.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Toyota, insurance giant Progressive, and data broker Connected Analytic Services (CAS) are facing a new class action lawsuit that claims the companies secretly harvested and sold sensitive driving data from Toyota vehicles—without telling drivers or getting their consent.

Filed by Florida driver Philip Siefke, the lawsuit accuses the companies of building a behind-the-scenes data pipeline that tracked everything from drivers’ speed and braking to their locations, driving behavior, and even voice recordings—all under the radar. 

Siefke claims this data was then quietly passed to third parties like Progressive, despite the companies’ public promises not to do so without explicit permission.

Toyota, Progressive Accused of Secretly Harvesting Driver Data

Siefke bought a 2021 Toyota RAV4 equipped with a telemetry system capable of recording and transmitting vehicle and driver data. He only found out about the data-sharing when he applied for insurance through Progressive in January 2025 and opted out of their Snapshot driver tracking program—only to be told Progressive already had his data.

Perplexed, he called both Progressive and Toyota. Progressive allegedly said it received the data from CAS. Toyota initially claimed he had enrolled in a data-sharing trial by default when purchasing the car, but when Siefke checked his Toyota mobile app, it showed he had already opted out of data sharing. 

The lawsuit alleges Toyota shared his information anyway, in violation of its own policies.

Lawsuit Claims Data Sold Without Driver Knowledge or Consent

According to the lawsuit, Toyota collects a wide range of data from its vehicles using built-in tracking tech—think location, speed, braking habits, seatbelt use, and even images and sounds. 

The plaintiffs allege that Toyota then sells this driving data to CAS, which in turn sells it to insurance companies like Progressive, who can use it to assess driving risk and set premium prices.

All of this, the lawsuit claims, happened without customers being properly informed or given the option to opt in. The plaintiffs argue that Toyota and its partners not only violated their own privacy policies, but also broke state and federal laws by monetizing this personal information.

Auto Industry Faces Growing Legal Pressure Over Data Privacy

This isn’t the only case highlighting a growing privacy issue. Allstate faces a similar lawsuit accusing the insurer of building a vast database of driver behavior without consent. The company allegedly mined mobile apps and in-car devices to build what the lawsuit calls “the world’s largest driving behavior database.”

Other lawsuits have surfaced in different sectors. Education tech company Instructure is accused of collecting and selling student data without parental consent, and Carfax is under fire for allegedly selling police accident reports containing personal driver details—violating federal privacy protections.

In his lawsuit, Siefke wants to represent anyone in the United States who owned or leased model year 2018 or newer Toyota vehicles equipped with Tracking Technology. 

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Siefke v. Toyota Motor North America, Inc. et al.
• Case Number: 4:25-cv-00406 
• Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas 

Plaintiffs' Attorney:

• John A. Yanchunis, Ronald Podolny, and Antonio Arzola, Jr. (Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group)
• Bruce W. Steckler, Austin P. Smith, Paul D. Stickney, and Jack M. Kelley (Steckler Wayne & Love PLLC)

Do you own a newer Toyota vehicle? Are you concerned about your driving data? Share your thoughts below.