Posted on 11/14/2023 11:46:55 AM PST by Red Badger
In a move concerning privacy advocates, a federal judge last week ruled against reinstating a collective lawsuit accusing four auto manufacturing giants of contravening privacy protections in Washington state. The companies were alleged to have illicitly intercepted and documented private text messages and call records of customers using their car’s inbuilt infotainment systems.
The judge based in Seattle concluded that this activity did not constitute unauthorized privacy infringements according to state regulations.
The court’s decision favors the automakers Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors, who find themselves as defendants in five parallel collective lawsuits revolving around this issue. A similar case against Ford had been earlier dismissed following an appeal.
The complainants from the existing four lawsuits had sought legal redress following a previous dismissal by another judge. In their judgment given Tuesday, the appellate judge asserted that the clandestine capture and logging of mobile phone usage did not violate the provisions of the Washington Privacy Act. According to the act, to be a vulnerable plaintiff, one must demonstrate a threat to “his or her business, his or her person, or his or her reputation.”
To highlight the matters in question, the plaintiffs in one of the five lawsuits launched a legal challenge against Honda in 2021, contending that starting at least in 2014, infotainment systems in Honda’s vehicles have been storing duplicates of all text messages from smartphones once they were connected to the system.
Providing the technology to some car manufacturers, a Maryland-based company named Berla Corporation has nothing to offer the general public, according to the lawsuit. Once text messages have been logged in, Berla’s proprietary software makes it impracticable for car owners to get to their communication history and call logs, but does grant access to law enforcement, claims the lawsuit.
"The televisions (viewscreens) in 1984 had cameras built in to them................"
“I’d sure like to know: 1) why the auto manufacturers need this information, and 2) under what circumstances is this not a privacy infringement.”
According to the OP they are just stored in the car system.
“Can vehicles connect to smartphones via WiFi? Our vehicles seem limited to Bluetooth or cabled connection.”
Newer cars have built in cell connections which can be enabled for a fee and can provide a wifi hotspot.
Even without paying a fee, my car sends vehicle updates to Ford.
On the App I can monitor location, mileage, mpg, etc when it is in the shop.
“CarPlay navigation is very nice. It needs Wi-Fi. “
CarPlay connects via Bluetooth.
Ouch. Our 2015 GM vehicle has Bluetooth and USB inputs into the Infotainment system, but I cannot use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It does have OnStar, but it’s never been activated. I kind of wonder about that hook.
“We won’t be free until this BS is stopped.”
For convenience the system uploads call and text history and contacts so you can select them from the screen. My system will also play text messages over the speakers. No big deal.
Just remember to unpair any phones you use in rental cars.
“It does have OnStar, but it’s never been activated. I kind of wonder about that hook.”
https://www.onstar.com/tips/how-to-use-wifi-hotspot
” but I cannot use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. ‘
Some can be updated. We have a 2014 but no updates available for CarPlay or Android Auto.
Our vehicles can’t be updated. For the 2015 model year, some GM vehicles could have CarPlay or Android Auto. Not ours. In fact, the model in question can’t install those apps until the 2018 model year. GM is no longer my father’s and grandfather’s auto maker.
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