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Texas Sues Allstate For Secretly Tracking Drivers Through Apps, Using Data To Raise Rates Login/Join 
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https://www.zerohedge.com/tech...ing-data-raise-rates

The state of Texas has sued Allstate and a subsidiary, Arity, accusing the insurance giant of illegally tracking drivers through cell phone apps without their consent and then using the data to charge more for car insurance.

According to Texas AG Ken Paxton, Allstate created the "world's largest driving behavior database," which collected information on more than 45 million Americans after paying mobile app developers millions of dollars to secretly incorporate tracking software. The software was designed beginning in 2015 by Allstate's data analytics unit, Arity, and integrated into several apps such as Fuel Rewards, GasBuddy, Life360 and Allstate-owned Routely.

In a Monday complaint filed in a Texas state court near Houston, Texas says Allstate also profited by selling the data to other insurers.

According to a press release from Paxton, These actions violated the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (“TDPSA”), which created heightened protections for Texans’ sensitive data, including but not limited to precise geolocation information. The law requires clear notice and informed consent regarding how a company will use Texans’ sensitive data. Allstate never provided notice or obtained Texans’ consent to collect or sell their sensitive data. This is the first enforcement action ever filed by a State Attorney General to enforce a comprehensive data privacy law.

In addition, Texas has accused Allstate of purchasing data about vehicles' whereabouts directly from automakers in order to more accurately determine - not based on cellphone locations - when policyholders are actually driving.

Participating manufacturers allegedly include; Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, and Stellantis' Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati and Ram.

The lawsuit seeks restitution and other damages for consumers, along with civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation, and the destruction of illegally collected data.

Paxton filed a similar lawsuit in August accusing General Motors of installing tracking technology on over 14 million vehicles since 2015 to collect driver data, which the company sold to insurers and other companies without drivers' consent.


_________________________
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
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Posts: 13542 | Registered: January 17, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Shall Not Be Infringed
Picture of nhracecraft
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ALL Apps are Spyware! At this point EVERYONE should know this!


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If Some is Good, and More is Better.....then Too Much, is Just Enough !!
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Posts: 9789 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: October 29, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
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They have been trying to get me to enroll in an app for their car insurance and I knew exactly that it was a tracking program. I gave up a whopping 5% discount to not ‘enroll’ in their spyware. They push it pretty hard.
 
Posts: 54144 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
probably a good thing
I don't have a cut
posted Hide Post
No wonder Fuel Rewards keeps asking me to turn on location tracking.
 
Posts: 3586 | Location: Tampa, FL | Registered: February 09, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Prefontaine
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It’s an abhorrent violation of privacy. Our privacy in this country is tossed aside like it is nothing. “I have nothing to hide” is often repeated ad nauseam. Yeah I’m sure you want your private life exposed publicly. What a treat that would be.

What’s hilarious is vehicle insurance is expensive as fuck here already. Homeowners even more so. Property Tax, Homeowners insurance, vehicle insurance, all related to the state of TX, is more than 10% of my annual income, probably pushing probably 13-15%. And we aren’t even getting into medical insurance. “But there is no state income tax there!” Yeah, that’s a very simpleton view. Factor in insurance, and real estate taxes, this place is way more expensive than people think. But that’s the problem, they don’t. Severe weather state and a bunch of fucking idiots who drive around looking down at their phones, + bordering Mexico (vehicle theft) = high vehicle insurance costs.

At the request of my insurance broker I installed an app for my main automobile policy a few years ago. But it was for 90 days only. I was made aware of this privacy crap up front, crystal. So I drove like a grandma for 90 days. It was hard too as they don’t want you accelerating hard but you have to here at times, to get onto the highway. Some service roads, you have to directly turn onto, and go from 0-50 mph as fast as your vehicle will do it. You won’t get in otherwise and you’ll be sitting there for 10 minutes, with people honking left and right behind you to hurry the fuck up. Then they don’t want you applying your brakes too quickly. Ok, so what do you do when someone cuts you off or cuts in front of you? Hit them? How they wanted you to drive vs. being safe and not getting into a wreck are two completely different things. That was a hard 90 days to get through, and extremely dangerous. Some computational fucktwit wrote this crap up in an office somewhere on their PC and didn’t take into account reality. I just elected to drive less and leave the phone home more often. At 90 days, I deleted the fucking app as my broker told me and I hope I never have to go through that shit again. Came close to getting a wreck numerous time due to granny driving. It’s way too aggressive here on the roads and unfortunately the Police don’t ticket distracted driving. If I had my way, get caught looking down at your phone while piloting a vehicle, go to jail and same penalties as DUI/DWI.

They already use zip code, annual income, credit rating, age, sex, single vs. married, homeowner vs. renter, it’s already complex enough. Vehicle insurance should be down to tickets and accidents on your record. For me it’s zero so fuck off. What’s next a fecal sample? Blood and urine? Go in for annual vehicle insurance screen at the lab where they draw blood and make you take a piss in a cup? Nothing is enough for these people. It’s already a pain in the ass on a phone OS to go back into the settings and disable all the privacy invasive shit they turn back on after a major update. These corporations want to track 100% of what you do. What you eat, drink, when you sleep, how much you sleep, what you watch, what you do when you aren’t watching. Every app on your TV is collecting data. Your phone is collecting data. Your social medias harvesting data like an elephant who hasn’t eaten in a month. Sorry for the rant but this kind of shit is past tired. I’d like to say that I hope they have to pay out the ass for this violation to state law, but then if that goes through they’ll just pass it onto the customers/citizens of this state. The EU has some steep penalties for invading privacy where we don’t. They’ve stuck it to Google, etc, to the tune of 8 billion dollars. These companies are like crack addicts who’ve been to jail over and over for it yet as soon as they are released from prison they are on the street hunting for a rock. This should be federal law. Data collection, invading privacy of citizens is illegal without their consent. And just because they do not consent you are NOT legally allowed to charge them for any service. Don’t like it? Don’t do business in America.



What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
 
Posts: 13274 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just for the
hell of it
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My dad put one of these on his car. I'm not sure if it was Allstate or a different company. He and my mom took a trip from MD to FL. They told him he used his phone while driving, although that was my mom using it to check traffic and places to stop. They didn't care.

Honda was found to be sharing data they collected through their Honda Link app. I had Honda Link although it's mostly useless. I deleted the app and my entire account when that came out.


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Posts: 16500 | Registered: March 27, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
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Shit, Prefontaine, we all need to chip in and get you a thorough massage- "love you long time."
 
Posts: 110373 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of ridewv
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quote:
Originally posted by wcb6092:

.....Participating manufacturers allegedly include; Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, and Stellantis' Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati and Ram.

The lawsuit seeks restitution and other damages for consumers, along with civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation, and the destruction of illegally collected data.

Paxton filed a similar lawsuit in August accusing General Motors of installing tracking technology on over 14 million vehicles since 2015 to collect driver data, which the company sold to insurers and other companies without drivers' consent.



Good on Texas! Will they be going after Toyota, Mazda, and Stellantis? What was the outcome of their suit against GM?


No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride.
 
Posts: 7432 | Location: Northern WV | Registered: January 17, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
As Extraordinary
as Everyone Else
Picture of smlsig
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I remember when that tracking with Allstate first came out and you plugged something into your OBII port. I had known my insurance agent for a long time and asked him about it. He told me he tried it and after a certain period of time it gave the insurance company a score and ….well his rates went up! Like Prefontaine he was very careful driving but it didn’t help.
He advised me not to get it as I was driving about 40k per year and would get hammered.


------------------
Eddie

Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
 
Posts: 6582 | Location: In transit | Registered: February 19, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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All these apps are spying on you but most drivers are complacent and don't care they are being spied on and their driving data sold to third parties. After I bought my 2024 Toyota Camry I received an email telling me downloading the Toyota app was my consent for them to spy on me and sell my data to third parties so I quickly opted out my deleting the app. I applaud TX for going after Allstate and GM and would like to see something done at the federal level to curb car companies, insurance companies and others from secretly spying on and and selling personal data to third parties.
 
Posts: 1801 | Location: USA | Registered: December 11, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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State Farm is pushing their "Drive Safe and Save" tracking app now. Same deal.

No thanks.

I didn't sign up to let them spy on me with the old OBD dongle, and I damn sure don't want them spying on me via my phone.
 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
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Federal law needs to be done regarding spying, data collection and sales.

Companies wanting to collect data, regardless of industry should have to require the user to opt in, and, they should have to disclose in simple plain english that you are allowing them to track, rate, sell, use, your information as they wish.

IN fact anytime you are using the app it should have a warning notice come up telling you that your data is being shared and give you the option to block it .

Said it a while back, the day is coming where you won't be able to turn on your car without agreeing to have the data mined. You can say no, but the car won't start until you do, TOS and all that... Until the Feds/State government makes them stop...

The data is worth more than the car..
 
Posts: 24798 | Location: Gunshine State | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of cparktd
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quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
State Farm is pushing their "Drive Safe and Save" tracking app now. Same deal.



Same deal?

The State Farm version is op-in. You know about it and agree to it...

The lawsuit addresses tracking in secret, unknown by you.



Collecting dust.
 
Posts: 4234 | Location: Middle Tennessee | Registered: February 07, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The success of a solution usually depends upon your point of view
posted Hide Post
Hopefully, Fl will soon follow Tx's lead.



“We truly live in a wondrous age of stupid.” - 83v45magna

"I think it's important that people understand free speech doesn't mean free from consequences societally or politically or culturally."
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Posts: 3974 | Location: Jacksonville, FL | Registered: September 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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