Underhanded insurance data collection Part 2: Allstate Boogaloo

nderwater said:

"Mobile apps that implemented the SDK Routely (now owned by Allstate), Life360, GasBuddy, and Fuel Rewards – are alleged to have collected:

• mobile phone geolocation data, accelerometer data;
• magnetometer data; gyroscopic data;
• trip attributes (start time, end time, distance; GPS points (accuracy, position, longitude, latitude, heading, speed, GPS time, time received, bearing, and altitude of a consumer’s mobile phone);
• derived events (acceleration, speeding, distracted driving, crash detection, etc);
• and metadata (ad ID, country code, operating system User ID, device type, app version, and OS version).

Those apps initially request permission from users to access location data in conjunction with app features. But after an app integrated the Arity SDK, the user was also unwittingly enabled Arity to collect and resell all of that data.

 

I had both Gasbuddy and Life360 installed.  Now we know how all those 'free' apps are actually funded.

For the well more than a decade there has been saying that addresses this:

"If the product is free, you are the product."

XLR99 (Forum Supporter) said:

Is allstate the same company that sent spies to an NER event, ran all the plates and cancelled polices?

When I worked for GEICO they were proud of the fact they did things like that. We were also instructed to file risk reports for any cars with "racing modifications", which included cold air intakes and carbon fiber hoods. Because an aluminum tube with a cone filter on a Yaris means you are a street racer.

back when we switched insurers over to AAA for our cars, we were told to install the app as it would "offer discounts for good driving behavior".

really quickly realized after installing it that it was intrusively monitoring every small g-force input and was constantly telling us to slow down even when doing normal braking to a stop light.  i had no doubt all the telemetry was being funneled back to the insurer and probably sold as well.  the "discount" was just a carrot on a stick.

uninstalled that app as fast as we could and just resigned ourselves to the crappy process of having to switch insurers every couple years to keep our rates from ballooning instead of chasing measly discounts in exchange for being constantly monitored.

unfortunately, on my camaro i had to shut down OnStar and request an opt-out from LexusNexus, who harvests the OnStar data and sells it, to try to stay ahead of yet another data gathering scheme.  this is going to get really tricky - maybe impossible - with new vehicles in the future that are so heavily software based and complex to crack.

My Allstate app DEFAULTED to collecting telemetry data. That pissed me off

Their nickname is Allsnake for a reason.

This on top of intrusive driver aids? Screw that.

My wife heard about this and called off her plans to test drive a Rav4 to replace the Q5.

We're shopping older BMWs (and maybe Volvos).

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

This latest effort can affect you whether you're driving a brand-new Model S or a first-year Model T, as long as you take your cell phone on the drive.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Oh, absolutely, though there's a distinction between knowing your phone can gather data on you and buying a car from a manufacturer who is also gathering data and selling it on.

Though strictly speaking an allegation at this point, it was the mention of Toyota in that group that killed the Rav4 consideration.

 I'm not okay with apps giving my info to my insurance company in secret, but I can also pay attention to what permissions I give apps. I shouldn't have to, but it's only disgusting, not entirely surprising. But to have a vehicle for which you've paid a relatively enormous sum and which does not come with an implicit tie to personal data collect your info for sale to a third party? That's even worse.

msn.com: Caught secretly selling car owners’ driving data, General Motors slapped with a hefty ban by Lina Khan’s FTC

General Motors reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that will prohibit it from selling information on its customers’ driving habits without their knowledge and explicit consent for the next 20 years.

Yet it also extracted information on the rate of acceleration, what speeds they might attempt a corner at, and how hard the brakes would be slammed. It even relayed information on whether they were taking their car on a late-night spin. That’s because this information was of particular value for insurers keen on better assessing the risk posed by their policyholders.

XLR99 (Forum Supporter) said:

Is allstate the same company that sent spies to an NER event, ran all the plates and cancelled polices?

Tried googling but found nothing.  What is the story here??

In reply to jfryjfry :

I'm short on the details but I do remember the story. An insurance representative showed up for what I believe was an autocross event as a spectator and recorded all the license plates of participants. Those participants who were customers of the insurance company had their policies dropped without consideration or appeal because they were "racing" their vehicles.

EDIT: I know GEICO has a history of doing this, but I'm not sure if that's the agency in question here for the NER event. 

In reply to brandonsmash :

Yes, that's the story. It was probably around 2000ish. I think there was an article in the NER newsletter or some other thing that my dad forwarded to me. He can't remeber the details anymore either.