If you’ve ever downloaded and used the EZ LYNK app on your phone, it seems that there is a chance the US government is about to get its hands on data about you. This is because the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking for data on users from Apple, Google, and Amazon who downloaded the car app.
DOJ wants data on Apple, Google users who downloaded car app
According to a report from Forbes, the DOJ wants Apple, Google, and Amazon to hand over “identities, addresses, and purchase histories” of more than 100,000 users who downloaded and use the EZ LYNK “car tinkering app.”
This is because the DOJ and EZ LYNK are embroiled in an alleged violation of the Clean Air Act. The DOJ claims that the app allowed users to remove emissions controls in a vehicle. The company, on the other hand, says that its apps aren’t designed to circumvent emissions laws. Instead, the app was designed to let users tweak their cars and make software upgrades. It can also be used to monitor their car’s performance.
The good news is that Apple and Google plan to challenge the request. According to EZ LYNK’s lawyers, “These requests for potentially hundreds of thousands of people’s PII go well beyond the needs of this case and create serious privacy concerns. Investigating this claim does not require identifying each person who has used the product.”
However, the DOJ doesn’t think it’s overreaching. The DOJ claims that its request for data is fair and appropriate. This is because its lawyers want to interview witnesses who might have used EZ LYNK’s technology.
The bigger picture
That being said, this request for user data is worrying. It’s slowly becoming a pattern that’s emerging, where the US government is starting to request more data on its citizens. According to Forbes, this isn’t the first time. Back in 2019, Apple and Google were ordered to hand over information on over 10,000 people. These were users who downloaded and installed a gun scope app on their phones.
But if you want a more recent example, the DHS ordered Google to hand over data on a Canadian citizen. That’s right, this person wasn’t even a US citizen. Their crime? Making posts on social media calling out ICE’s killing of two US citizens. What makes it scary is how the DHS had taken advantage of a customs summons to obtain the information.
This summons wasn’t designed for that purpose. It was created mainly to identify the correctness of an entry to determine liability and taxes on goods imported to the US, not to bypass a judge’s review or a grand jury.
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