Basically, the lawsuit found that this is exactly the same concept as syncing your phone's messages to your laptop or a personal device like that, all on local storage. The fact that the car doesn't protect the data isn't all that alarming: plenty of people have unprotected data sitting on their laptops and flash drives. Again, this isn't cloud storage or Internet-connected services here, this is old world Bluetooth phone calls and texts infotainment.
> The class-action complaint contended that "text message and call log data copied onto the vehicle can be, and is, transmitted to users of Berla's equipment without requiring any kind of password, biometric, or other security measure." The complaint pointed to a 2017 CyberScoop report that quoted Berla CEO and founder Ben LeMere as saying his firm was working with carmakers to educate them on securing private data, but only "when it's part of an agreement that they will allow law enforcement in."
> A Ford court filing said that making a vehicle containing an infotainment system does not create liability under the state law "any more than selling computers and smartphones to purchasers who make and record calls and store texts on their devices. Any recording in this case was done by Plaintiffs, or by the system itself, which resides in a vehicle they own or use."
