Auto Apps · Auto App · Data breach
Volkswagen (Car-Net)
Headline
VW/Audi exposed 3.3 MILLION customers' names, addresses, emails, and vehicle purchase details (2019-2021) — data that had been collected specifically to fuel SALES AND MARKETING, meaning the very information gathered…
VW/Audi exposed 3.3 MILLION customers' names, addresses, emails, and vehicle purchase details (2019-2021) — data that had been collected specifically to fuel SALES AND MARKETING, meaning the very information gathered to sell you more cars ended up in a breach instead.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-08-04
Primary source. techcrunch.com/2021/06/11/volkswagen-says-a-vendors-security-lapse-exposed-3-3-million-drivers-details/ — Verified - primary source confirmed.
Terms
Arbitration
Not confirmed this pass — verify current Car-Net Terms of Service arbitration clause directly.
Data sharing
VW and its third-party marketing vendor were reported in Sept 2022 to be nearing a ~$3.5 million CLASS settlement over the 2021 vendor DATA BREACH described below — not over Car-Net data-collection practices (a separate Car-Net suit, Raffo v. Volkswagen Group of America, D.N.J. No. 1:22-cv-06230, filed Oct 2022, concerns the 3G phase-out disabling Car-Net features); separately, VW/Audi disclosed a breach exposing 3.3 million customer records (primarily US/Canada, Aug 2019–May 2021) including names, addresses, emails, and vehicle purchase/inquiry details, used for sales and marketing purposes.
Fees and billing
Not itemized this pass.
Contacts
Privacy contact. Not recorded.
Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
| Claim | Kind | Support | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. VW/Audi exposed the customers' data. | fact | contradicted | none recorded |
| 2. 3.3 million customers' information was exposed. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 3. The exposed data included customers' names, addresses and emails. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 4. The exposed data included vehicle purchase details. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 5. The exposure ran from 2019 to 2021. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 6. The data had been collected for sales and marketing. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 7. The information ended up in a breach. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 8. Meaning the very information gathered to sell you more cars ended up in a breach instead. | characterization | n/a | none recorded |
0 of 8 claims have a confirmed source of their own.
No sources are on file for this row yet.
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy vw.com (privacy notice not individually captured this pass) | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Terms of service vw.com (Car-Net Terms — direct URL not individually captured this pass) | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/11/volkswagen-says-a-vendors-security-lapse-exposed-3-3-million-drivers-details/ Verification: Verified - primary source confirmed | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No HQ state on file, so no state statute applies by headquarters.