Apps like Life 360, Gas Buddy, & MyRadar sell your driving data to insurance companies

Yep, those (and other apps) are collecting your driving data and selling it to your insurance company who use the data to help determine your rates. This is an effort to get around people not wanting to opt into the driving monitoring hardware that insurance companies want people to use.

Steve Lehto video:


NY Times Article

quote:

---

For the last two decades, auto insurers have been trying to get people to enroll in programs, commonly called usage-based insurance plans, that monitor their day-to-day driving so rates better reflect the actual risk. But privacy-minded consumers have been reluctant to sign up.

So the industry has taken a different tack, getting data about how people drive from automakers or from apps that drivers already have on their phones. Experts say most people have no idea the insurance industry can track them this way.

---

quote:

---

According to the companies collecting and selling the data, consumers agree to share their information with the insurance industry. But the murky consent process means people may not realize what they are opting into.

---

quote:

---

The smartphone apps collecting driver data may not be obvious at first glance. One, Life360, is used by parents to keep track of their children. MyRadar offers weather forecasts. GasBuddy helps people save on fuel costs.

---

More at the link.