Class Action Alleges Toyota, Lexus Vehicles’ Infotainment Systems Download, Store Copies of All Connected Smartphones

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Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. faces a proposed class action that alleges it has violated a Washington state privacy law by downloading and storing the text messages of smartphones connected to the infotainment systems in certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles. 

The 16-page lawsuit largely mirrors a proposed class action filed earlier this month against Ford, wherein a Washington resident alleged the automaker had overstepped the Washington Privacy Act by capturing the text messages of phones connected to vehicles’ infotainment systems. The case against Toyota alleges the infotainment systems in vehicles made by the company from at least 2014 onward have captured residents’ text messages and made them available to third parties, including law enforcement, without consent to do so. 

The Washington Privacy Act forbids any entity in the state from intercepting or recording any private communication without first obtaining the consent of all participants in the communication, the lawsuit relays. Per the case, Toyota and Lexus vehicles download texts automatically and store a copy of them in such a manner “that the vehicle owner cannot access it,” but law enforcement can through third-party technology.

“On information and belief, a reasonable opportunity for discovery will show that the onboard stored copy of text messages cannot be accessed by vehicle owners,” the complaint claims. “On information and belief, a reasonable opportunity for discovery will show that the onboard stored copy of text messages can be accessed by someone using hardware and software designed and sold by [equipment manufacturer] Berla.” 

According to the suit, the plaintiffs in the last three years have sent each other at least one text message. One plaintiff’s smartphone was connected to the infotainment system in his Toyota vehicle “on more than ten occasions” over that time, the case says, and the automaker was not party to any of the messages. 

Toyota had neither plaintiff’s consent to intercept, download and store copies of their text message communications, the suit alleges. 

The case looks to represent all persons who, within the last three years, had their text messages recorded by the infotainment system in a Toyota or Lexus vehicle while a resident of the State of Washington. The lawsuit was initially filed on August 9 in Thurston County Superior Court and removed to Washington’s Western District Court at Tacoma on September 24. 

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