While many carmakers have rushed to include features like Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto, Toyota seems to be one of the few who are holding out, at least as far as Android Auto is concerned. Earlier this year Toyota announced plans to include CarPlay in future vehicles, but failed to mention anything about Android Auto.However according to a recent report from Motor1 (via 9to5Google), Toyota has revealed the reason why and that has to do with privacy. According to a statement made by Mark Dejongh, the Toyota Avalon’s Executive Program Manager, “We’re a conservative company and we wanted to make sure everything was okay. We wanted to protect our customers privacy. We strongly believe in our stance and in what we’re doing.”
For those wondering about what kind of privacy concerns Toyota might have, it seems to stem from a 2015 report from Motor Trend which claims that Google collects unnecessary data from cars that use Android Auto. Google has since refuted those claims, but apparently it might not have been enough for Toyota to want to implement it into their vehicles. Perhaps this could change in the future, but we guess if you absolutely have to have Android Auto, you can always look for aftermarket solutions which shouldn’t be too hard to find.
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