Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

[CaminoRacer]

Gift link (no paywall):
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.b00.87VS.xwXjyF6jnxsS&smid=url-share

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers' Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for the insurers, knew about every trip G.M. drivers had taken in their cars, including when they sped, braked too hard or accelerated rapidly.

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He's never been responsible for an accident.

So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor.

LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a "Risk Solutions" division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl's request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page "consumer disclosure report," which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What it contained stunned him: more than 130 pages detailing each time he or his wife had driven the Bolt over the previous six months. It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations. The only thing it didn't have is where they had driven the car.

On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.

According to the report, the trip details had been provided by General Motors — the manufacturer of the Chevy Bolt. LexisNexis analyzed that driving data to create a risk score "for insurers to use as one factor of many to create more personalized insurance coverage," according to a LexisNexis spokesman, Dean Carney. Eight insurance companies had requested information about Mr. Dahl from LexisNexis over the previous month.

"It felt like a betrayal," Mr. Dahl said. "They're taking information that I didn't realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance."

[CaminoRacer]

I smell a class action lawsuit for some of this stuff.

I'm curious to pull my LexisNexis report and see what they have.
https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request

[Morris Minor]

Sometimes hard braking or acceleration is done out of necessity rather than idiocy.

[r0tor]

That is ridiculous.

Thankfully none of my cars have an internet conney

[RomanChariot]

I am in the process of searching for a new insurance company. Every company I have contacted has asked if I would be willing to have my driving tracked. The downside of this technology definitely seems to outweigh any benefit. You could pull off an amazing maneuver to avoid an accident and the insurance company will view it as aggressive driving and ding you for it.

[GoCougs]

This surprises anyone anymore?

Pretty much everything you visit/say/type/etc. is tracked and logged to be used against you.

[r0tor]

I'm surprised if Google/Apple aren't selling the same data

[AutobahnSHO]

I'm surprised if Google/Apple aren't selling the same data

They can't tie it to your insurance account.

[giant_mtb]

That is ridiculous.

Thankfully none of my cars have an internet conney

Yeah. Taco came with a year's free trial of the internet/app bullshit...never used it except out of novelty a few times. But I know that the antenna can still transceive data even if I'm not paying for it, so I might snip its wires some day soon.

[r0tor]

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/03/carmakers-are-snitching-on-you-and-selling-your-driving-data-to-insurers/

Looks like it's a problem well beyond GM

[r0tor]

They can't tie it to your insurance account.

Google/Apple definitely know where you are going and how quickly you are going based off of gps data.  Phone sensors could measure high g's for braking/turning/acceleration.  Bluetooth data can probably peg you to a specific car as well while you are doing it.

I'd be more than surprised if it's not happening

[565]

Started a new topic not realizing there was a topic on this.

But yeah the Blackwing forums are all up in arms about this.

The problem is that people that opted out of the program are finding that their cars switch to enrolled on their own.  It's a widespread problem on the forums

Whether it's a glitch or on purpose, it is a huge problem with the GM smart driver program.

Those with Bolts on this forum should check their accounts to see if they got enrolled.

[r0tor]

I hope the lawsuits out of this are GIGANTIC

[Raza]

And I was shouted down every time I said cars are over due to an over-reliance on technology.

[Morris Minor]

I know a guy who drives Uber/Lyft in the Brownsville TX area.  He uses Tesla insurance that dings him just for being out after 10:00 PM. It also deducts points for g-force infractions. It's overt at least but super harsh. You have to drive like an octogenarian which drives other motorists into rages. 

[veeman]

I know a guy who drives Uber/Lyft in the Brownsville TX area.  He uses Tesla insurance that dings him just for being out after 10:00 PM. It also deducts points for g-force infractions. It's overt at least but super harsh. You have to drive like an octogenarian which drives other motorists into rages.

I wondering even with all the dings is Tesla insurance still a lot cheaper than the typical insurance carriers.  I've heard Tesla insurance sucks though when you need to use it. 

[Morris Minor]

Tesla's eased up a little bit on the nighttime driving dings.
Side note: I remember a cop once telling me that nothing good ever happens after 11:00 PM. 

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-safety-score-late-night-driving-revision/