DOJ seeks data on 100k EZ Lynk users

The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed Apple and Google for information on more than 100,000 people who downloaded EZ Lynk’s Auto Agent app, according to recent reporting and a joint court letter described by Forbes. The requests, sent in March and April 2026, seek names, addresses and related records tied to the app’s users as part of the government’s long-running Clean Air Act case against EZ Lynk. EZ Lynk’s lawyers told the court that Apple and Google plan to fight the demands. The dispute has turned a diesel-tuning case into a broader fight over how much user data app stores can be forced to disclose. ### Why are Apple and Google in a case about diesel tuning? EZ Lynk’s Auto Agent app is one part of a broader system the government has been challenging since 2021. The Justice Department said in a March 8, 2021 complaint that EZ Lynk, Prestige Worldwide, Bradley Gintz and Thomas Wood manufactured and sold a “defeat device” designed to let car and truck owners remove computerized emissions controls in violation of the Clean Air Act. (forbes.com) The government also alleged that EZ Lynk, Gintz and Wood failed to provide information sought by the EPA. The Second Circuit revived that case on August 20, 2025 after ruling that the government had sufficiently alleged the EZ Lynk system could qualify as a defeat device and that Section 230 immunity did not bar the suit at that stage. The appellate summary described the system as a hardware device connected to a vehicle diagnostics port, a smartphone app and a cloud service used to obtain and install “tunes,” including delete tunes that disable emissions controls. (justice.gov) ### What exactly is the government asking for? Forbes reported on May 14 that the DOJ wants Amazon, Apple and Google to provide identities, addresses and purchase histories for at least 100,000 people who used the EZ Lynk app. Separate subpoenas also went to Walmart and Amazon for records tied to EZ Lynk hardware purchases, according to the same report and follow-on coverage. (law.justia.com) The government told the court, according to 9to5Mac’s account of the joint letter, that it had “consistently sought customer information” because its lawyers want to interview witnesses about how they used EZ Lynk’s technology. That places app-store account data and retail purchase data in the same evidentiary bucket: a way to identify potential users and customers in a civil enforcement case. (forbes.com) ### Why are EZ Lynk and privacy critics objecting? EZ Lynk’s lawyers told the court that the subpoenas sweep too broadly. In the letter quoted by Forbes and 9to5Mac, they wrote that requests for “potentially hundreds of thousands” of users’ personally identifiable information go beyond what the case requires and create privacy concerns. They also argued that investigating the government’s claims does not require identifying every person who used the product. (9to5mac.com) Forbes said the case is unusual because the subpoenas seek information on everyone who downloaded an app, not a narrow set of named suspects. That scale is part of why the dispute has drawn attention beyond the automotive aftermarket and into privacy and platform-policy circles. ### Why does this matter beyond EZ Lynk? (forbes.com) Apple and Google were not accused in the underlying emissions case. Their role here is as custodians of account and download records that can link a software install to a real person. That makes ordinary app-store metadata legally significant when a product becomes part of a federal investigation. (forbes.com) For product, legal and security teams, the case is a reminder that user-acquisition data can become evidence once prosecutors or civil enforcers decide it may help identify customers, witnesses or alleged violators. That is an inference from the subpoenas and the government’s stated reason for seeking customer information, not a separate claim made by the court. (forbes.com) ### What happens next? The underlying case remains on the docket of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where CourtListener shows a May 5, 2026 filing as the latest known entry. Forbes and 9to5Mac reported that Apple and Google are expected to challenge the subpoenas, setting up the next fight over whether the government can compel disclosure of those user records. (courtlistener.com) (forbes.com)