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A Toyota data sharing lawsuit is on hold as the judge granted Toyota’s motion to compel arbitration.
Plaintiff Philip Siefke filed the class action lawsuit against Toyota, insurance company Progressive, and data company Connected Analytic Services (CAS).
The lawsuit alleges Toyota illegally sold and shared the driving behavior of drivers since model year 2018 vehicles were introduced.
The class action claims Toyota and CAS collected private information from Toyota vehicles without driver consent. That information was reportedly then sold to Progressive and other third parties.
The plaintiff contends he was injured because Toyota shared his driving data, including the location, speed, direction, braking and swerving/cornering events of his vehicle. Toyota also collected and shared image and voice data from his vehicle.
According to the data sharing lawsuit, Toyota violated the Federal Wiretap Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and all the companies allegedly violated invasion of privacy laws.
Toyota Data Sharing Lawsuit Sent to Arbitration
Toyota told the judge the data class action shouldn’t be in court because the plaintiff agreed to arbitrate his claims. The arbitration agreement is found in the terms of use and Toyota argues all claims regarding driving data must be arbitrated.
The automaker says no driving data can be collected unless a customer agrees to the Toyota’s Connected Services agreement.
Judge Amos Louis Mazzant referenced the terms agreed to by the plaintiff.
“By continuing, you agree to Toyota’s handling of vehicle data according to the Connected Services Terms of Use and Connected Services Privacy Notice. The terms ‘Connected Services Terms of Use’ and ‘Connected Services Privacy Notice’ are in red, boldface text, and they provide a hyperlink sending the User to digital copies of Toyota’s Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.”
According to the agreement:
“When you click the ‘Accept’ button, you agree that on a regular and continuous basis, your vehicle wirelessly transmits location, driving and vehicle health data to Toyota and its affiliates in order to deliver Connected Services and for internal research, development and data analysis. To disable your vehicle data transmission capability, press ‘Decline or press the vehicle’s SOS button.”
Toyota argues everything is clear and plain, not only to the plaintiff but to all Toyota customers.
“Again, the terms ‘Connected Services Terms of Use’ and ‘Connected Services Privacy Notice’ are in red, boldface text, and they provide a hyperlink to digital copies of Toyota’s Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.” — Judge Mazzant
According to the judge, if the user declines the data consent agreement they cannot access any connected services and data transmission from the vehicles is turned off. And if a user does accept the agreement, they are provided the option to select which connected services to enroll in.
The judge agreed with Toyota that at all times, Toyota’s Connected Services Terms of Use included the arbitration agreement. The Terms of Use included a text box at the top of the first page titled, “NOTICE OF MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION” in boldface text.
In addition to granting Toyota’s motion to compel arbitration, the same was granted to Progressive Insurance and to Connected Analytic Services.
The Toyota data sharing lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas: Philip Siefke v. Toyota Motor North America, Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, and Steckler Wayne & Love PLLC.