DOJ subpoenas Apple and Google for identities of 100k+ car-tuning app users

The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to Apple, Google, Amazon, and Walmart seeking names, addresses, phone numbers, and purchase histories tied to EZ Lynk’s Auto Agent app and its OBD dongle hardware. The demand, part of a 2021 Clean Air Act suit accusing the Cayman Islands company of selling diesel emissions defeat devices, could expose data on more than 100,000 downloaders. Prosecutors say they need the information to find witnesses who can describe how the tools were actually used in practice.

EZ Lynk’s counsel calls the sweep Fourth Amendment overreach, arguing the government does not need to identify every user to prove its case, and Apple and Google are reportedly preparing to fight the subpoenas. EFF and EPIC have warned that the requests would pull in users who installed the app for legitimate diagnostics or tuning, exposing them to legal risk over terms they never read. A judge already rejected EZ Lynk’s Section 230 defense in 2025, clearing the case to proceed.

The scale dwarfs prior app-store data demands — roughly ten times the size of a 2019 request targeting a gun-scope app — and any ruling on the challenges could set precedent for how far regulators can reach into platform install records during civil enforcement. For modders and right-to-repair advocates, it signals that download metadata is now a routine investigative target.