Data about drivers’ habits is being downloaded from certain smartphone apps – sometimes without the driver’s knowledge or consent – and forwarded to auto insurance company as a tool for setting exchange rates. According to one recently reported in New York Times – which in March reported Data agency LexisNexis already sells similar data from internet-connected cars to General motive – several popular apps, including Life360, MyRadar, and Gas Buddy are providing user data to Arity, a company owned by Allstate.
According to the report, these apps and others use telecommunications to relay sensor and motion data transmitted through smartphones. That information is processed by Arity to construct a “driving score” that measures behind-the-wheel behavior, e.g. distracted driving, skirunning and suddenly brake. Insurance companies buy the results, and experts say most people are unaware that they are being tracked this way.
The companies that collect the data say that consumers agree to share this information and that they can opt out of the process if they want, perhaps when they initially find themselves giving consent without realizing it.
For example, on GasBuddy, users can enable ratings energy saving of their drives, one features “powered by Arity”. The company said users “agree to Arity’s privacy terms before they opt in to Drives functionality.”
However, the report said, “the deal is in small gray font below a large red button labeled ‘Join Drive.’ The small disclosure simply states that by clicking ‘Join Drive’ you will be sharing ‘certain information’ with Arity and agreeing to Arity’s privacy statement, which is hyperlinked. The language doesn’t explain what Arity is or does. The company sells access to the driving scores of tens of millions of people. Automatic insurance According to Allstate’s website, companies can ‘request a person’s personal driving score, which is provided instantly.’
According to the story, not all insurance companies use Arity’s driving data. Spokespeople for GEICO and USAA said they only collect driving behavior from people who have downloaded a dedicated smartphone app that tracks how they drive.
The other side of the rating issue – which at the end of the day, determines how much a person pays for auto insurance – is that “it can more accurately predict risk for individual drivers and is fairer than to set the price,” the story said.
“There is a lot of unfair discrimination in auto insurance,” Michael DeLong of the Consumer Federation of America said. “Auto insurance companies use a variety of socioeconomic factors, like your credit score, your job or education level, like whether you went to high school or college or whether you’re married. ”
DeLong found that people with poor credit scores pay more for auto insurance even if they have a clean driving record. “Telematics has a lot of promise for consumers, and it could be a way to better price auto insurance,”
Some other anecdotal stories are told by time in an article titled “Is your driving being secretly scored?” It is available This; registration may be required.
