A major data leak at Cariad, Volkswagen’s software branch, has revealed sensitive personal details, including location data, of hundreds of thousands of electric vehicle (EV) owners, as reported by *Der Spiegel*.

The flaw was discovered by an unidentified whistleblower, who notified both the *Chaos Computer Club*, a leading European hacker group, and *Der Spiegel*. To confirm the breach, the publication managed to track the vehicles of German politicians Nadja Weippert and Markus Grübel, who agreed to allow their data to be accessed for the inquiry.

The breach reportedly affected around 800,000 EVs from Volkswagen’s brands, such as Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, and Skoda. For about 460,000 of these vehicles—like the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 models—the leaked information was particularly detailed, showing specific locations where the vehicles were started and stopped.

According to *Der Spiegel*, taking advantage of the vulnerability required minimal technical skills. The data was kept in unprotected and unencrypted Amazon cloud storage, making it quite straightforward to access. Among those impacted by the breach were German politicians, corporate leaders, and even the Hamburg police.

After *Der Spiegel* alerted Cariad to the problem, the company swiftly addressed the vulnerability. While the breach technically allowed anyone to monitor EV owners’ activities over several months, there is no proof that the data was misused. Cariad reassured EV owners that they needed to take no further action to protect their information.

Volkswagen, however, minimized the simplicity of obtaining the data, stating it called for “a high level of expertise and a considerable investment of time.” Regardless of this claim, the incident represents a significant setback for the automaker, which is still dealing with the repercussions of its 2015 Dieselgate scandal, in which Volkswagen was found to have altered diesel engine software to falsify emissions data during testing.

This recent breach could further harm Volkswagen’s image, especially as the company faces dwindling EV sales. Recent findings suggest that European consumers are increasingly returning to petrol-powered vehicles, posing additional hurdles for Volkswagen’s electric vehicle aspirations.