Times Car driver's license image leak: ¥3,000 'apology' per person, 1.46 million people affected

What happened

Park24 said on October 23 that hackers got into Times Car's system. Personal data was leaked. Images of driver's licenses and other ID documents may have been sent outside the company. To say sorry, Park24 will pay each affected person 3,000 yen in cash or gift vouchers.

Key numbers

• About 6.6 million account records had names, addresses, and birth dates leaked. This includes people who have stopped using the service.
• About 1.46 million of these records show that ID images were accessed and sent outside.
• Payment of 3,000 yen per person adds up to about 4.4 billion yen in total, based on a simple calculation.
• Park24 expects a 5.5 billion yen special loss in its fiscal year ending October 2026.

Background

The hack was discovered in September. Park24 says the ID images were stored in encrypted form, which scrambles data so only someone with the key can read it. The company says this does not mean the images could be viewed right away. However, it also says it cannot fully rule out that they could be decrypted in the future. That is why it chose to pay people.

Why it matters

Driver's license images are very sensitive. Criminals can use them to pretend to be someone else. The case shows how a single system breach can affect millions of people and cost a company billions of yen. Police have also advised people to change passwords and turn on multi-factor login, which asks for a second proof of identity.

What to watch

• Whether more people are found to be affected as the investigation continues.
• How the 3,000 yen payments are carried out and how many people claim them.
• Whether credit card companies and other services see signs of misuse of the leaked data.