Your 'Connected' Car May Be Transmitting Your Driving Data to Insurance Companies

[Maxx]

Thanks for reaching out and asking the question; never hurts to ask!

I'm personally leaving it on, as I want that functionality, and the data collection doesn't bother me as much as it might others. It's a very personal choice. YMMV.

I share most of what I think may be useful to Ford but keep driving data off almost all the time. Except when it is really cold out there and I know I will be traveling long distance the next day. Charging over night to 80% and use the Ford Pass in the morning to Top it off and get the battery toasty right before I leave. Then turn it off when I get in the truck. I am hoping that means no driving data is shared since there was no driving done while it was on. However hope does not mean a thing if the truck has an accumulated collected data and share it as soon as I turn it on.

My Share Insurance data is disabled even when I turn on the share driving data. Does anyone know what it is tied to?

Sponsored

 

[OtterJohn]

My Share Insurance data is disabled even when I turn on the share driving data. Does anyone know what it is tied to?

I would assume (and we all know where that gets us) that it's tied to the Ford Insure option/tile in the FordPass app, if you have insurance through Ford, the truck would not need an additional ODBII sensor. But that's just a guess, because it has a lock on it and I don't use Ford Insure.

 

[Dave70]

I went and submitted a request to lexisnexis for my data. I'm so curious to see how much or if they have been collecting data from Ford since I got my truck in October 2023. My progressive ins policy renews next month, so I am also curious to see if there is a major difference in price compared to the usual increases.

 

[FrunkMonk-e]

But, just because your car has 'technology' doesn't mean that some insurance company has somehow 'silently' used your specific data to change your specific rate - not possible, not legal.

Thanks for explaining this. However, it begs the question: if it isn't legal to use driver specific data to change driver specific rates, how are they using traffic violations against people?

 

[Mmiketa]

Confirmed that the "Preferred Times" and "Departure Time" tiles have disappeared from my FordPass app by making this change. Guess I'll be turning it back on (my personal choice as I use the functionality).

Which one did you turn off? I’ve shut mine off but both of those tiles are still in FordPass.

 

[OtterJohn]

Which one did you turn off? I’ve shut mine off but both of those tiles are still in FordPass.

It was the "Share Driving Data" option that disabled the FordPass app functionality. You may need to refresh your app by pulling down and see if they disappear...that's what I did, startled me at first as I didn't expect them to go away...

 

[Mmiketa]

You are correct, I just restarted the app and they were gone…

 

[FrunkMonk-e]

I just did this too. It's annoying that Ford gives a generic warning that some features may not work but does not say what those are.

I also requested a copy of my LexisNexis data here: Order Your Report Online - LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Disclosure to see what they have on me. California residents have additional options to limit or opt-out of sharing by LexisNexis

Thanks! Opting out from LexisNexis seems like the safest, least painful route (i.e. without losing any vehicle functionality).

 

[rv7pilot]

Are you sure about that?

 

[Dave70]

It was the "Share Driving Data" option that disabled the FordPass app functionality. You may need to refresh your app by pulling down and see if they disappear...that's what I did, startled me at first as I didn't expect them to go away...

Yes, I only shut off driving data, and lost charging control and departure times in the app, which is odd because vehicle data sharing is on....

 

[vvgogh]

I asked the Ford.com chat agent to please provide a listing of data Ford has sold from my vehicle or FordPass phone application. They declined to assist me with either item. They directed me to instead ask in another of their products and refused to connect the chat session to the relevant agent.

"This question will be best handled by the FordPass experts. You can reach them through the FordPass app. To contact a FordPass Guide: • Log in to the FordPass App. • Select More at the bottom right of the screen. • Select Help on the upper left of the screen. • Then, select your preferred contact method (call or chat). FordPass Guides' chat hours are 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. EST (Monday to Friday) and 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST (Saturday)."​

In addition to submitting the FordPass opt-out's three different forms I never heard a resolution of in months, I also just submitted the LexisNexis opt-out and requested the personal information they have sold.

 

[Jim Lewis]

If you pay attention to any of the insurers who offer data collection devices or apps, you'll see that they are NOT monitoring your speed - they do not know what the speed limit is. They are NOT monitoring WHO is driving - they have no way to know that. They ARE monitoring BAD driving behaviors, such as HARD STOPS, FAST take offs, etc, which is VEHICLE specific, not DRIVER specific.

Not quite so for the State Farm Drive Safe & Save program, for which @rv7pilot has posted a screen capture image above.

Are you sure about that?

State Farm asks you to specify a principal driver for each vehicle. You're given a battery-powered Bluetooth beacon to put in each car. Whoever is the driver is supposed to have BT turned on on his/her phone, and passengers are supposed to turn off BT on their phones (what a practical idea! ). What's typically happened in the past is my wife forgets to turn off her BT; she gets in my truck first and is assigned as the driver, and sometimes even when I get in first, her iPhone will get the connection and she'll get credit for being the driver.

Also, the State Farm app monitors everything through GPS and accelerometer readings from the iPhone, not the truck. Data is accumulated on the iPhone and either transmitted cellularly or via your next Wi-Fi connection if you don't want to burn cellular data through the Drive Safe & Save app. So, yes, Drive Safe & Safe monitors speed, braking, acceleration, cornering, and phone distraction (touching your iPhone screen while you're moving). You can tap the truck Sync screen all day long, and it's not counted as a distraction because only stuff detected by your smartphone registers.

The good thing about Drive Safe & Save is that you get an insurance discount from State Farm for using it. Much of the discount is based on how few miles you drive, so one of the app's primary purposes is documenting how many miles you actually drove and how you drove them.

Another good thing is that you get immediate feedback on how the app scored you. I got so frustrated with Drive Safe & Save's infuriating idiosyncrasies that I asked my agent to switch me to Connected Services insurance data sharing. However, I decided I was getting no immediate feedback on how I was being scored and switched back to Drive Safe & Save.

But if you check out the Apple App Store reviews, you'll see the performance of the app is dissed by many, many users - and I agree with most of the negative reviews. It's way too sensitive to cornering, braking, and acceleration. I've gotten dinged for going around a sharp curve at or less than the posted speed limit - and often, it can't distinguish cornering like that from acceleration in a straight line. The app encourages you to run yellow lights because you know you'll be dinged for excessive braking if a light unexpectedly begins to change and you have to brake hard, etc.

I don't think the technology is there in smartphones to support what State Farm wants to do with the app. My most recent aggravation is the app for some reason (iPhone GPS output?) had me staying on a 45 mph access road rather than entering a local high-speed loop. I was flagged for doing 60 mph in a 45-mph zone on the access road and the map depiction of my trip had me whizzing through several traffic light intersections along the access road at 60 mph! When I complained to my agent about this, she just said the app has improved tremendously from what it used to be. The app has no built-in feedback mechanism. There is 24x7 technical support, but I've never gotten any feedback that the tech support has corrected any errors I've complained about.

So, I have no problem with my driving data being collected but I do have a problem with shoddy data collection technology that might be reporting that I'm a bad driver when I'm not. I don't like the flakiness of the Drive Safe & Save monitoring, but I'll take whatever insurance discount I can get for putting up with the app...

BTW, the ironic thing is the State Farm Drive Safe & Save app currently allows you to go up to 5 mph over the speed limit before it dings you for "speeding!" That's hilarious, given how overly sensitive the app is to braking, acceleration, and cornering.

 

[DrOctane]

as an Auto Insurance agent, I'll regard CNBC's Becky Quick's take on this as OVER THE TOP... as though she has 'first hand' knowledge and therefore can 'assume' that ALL insurers are doing this, if anyone is, to ALL driver/owners/policyholders... BUNK.

'Connected Car' data is not full of the data some my assume. If you pay attention to any of the insurers who offer data collection devices or apps, you'll see that they are NOT monitoring your speed - they do not know what the speed limit is. They are NOT monitoring WHO is driving - they have no way to know that. They ARE monitoring BAD driving behaviors, such as HARD STOPS, FAST take offs, etc, which is VEHICLE specific, not DRIVER specific.

I'll jump to my own 'conclusion' and call these over-the-top knee-jerk reactions as preposterous.

Now, also, there is no one person getting 'jacked up' on their rates. Insurance does NOT work that way. Insurance is 'groupings' of people who buy a policy, not INDIVIDUALS, and therefore RATES are not individually specific, there are 'general'. If you are 35, single, rent, have an 'average' credit score, drive 'average' miles per year, live in zip code "......" or city "_____" or state "__", and have no at-fault collisions and no speeding tickets in the last several years, then you have the SAME rate everyone else in that same 'situation', will. The VEHICLE you drive will also determine the 'vehicle rate' as there are certainly many very different vehicles and 'sport models' with large engines, expensive trim levels, and sometimes some with more historical data of 'accidents'. Color does not matter. Discounts also abound, depending on meeting them, such as length of years without a claim, miles per year, commuting versus personal usage only, etc.

Even your own NEIGHBOR will have not only a different RATE than you, even with the Same Exact company, but will also have DIFFERENT vehicles, different history, different family of drivers - there is no 'just like me' comparisons in the Auto Insurance world. Don't compare with your neighbors, you'll just be aggravated. Or, you may just find your premium is a lot LESS than theirs.

After saying all that, do I believe that Auto Insurance should actually be JUST THAT - based on EACH DRIVER's own driving habits, history, location, usage, and family? YES. But, just because your car has 'technology' doesn't mean that some insurance company has somehow 'silently' used your specific data to change your specific rate - not possible, not legal.

At least not yet. Ask the Insurance Commissioner of ANY of our great 50 states about the ability for insurance companies to change 'your' premium just because they found some 'data' about you. They will laugh. It's not something they allow.
Insurance companies are using data for a 'general' risk evaluation over many, many, many hundreds of thousands of policies, vehicles, and drivers... not 'specific' policies, vehicles, or drivers.
Insurance companies are also required to SUBMIT to the states the RATES that they propose to assess to EVERY POLICY they issue, for approval.

If you or CNBC or Beck Quick or anyone has an 'issue' with these things, they should contact their state's Insurance Commissioner, who 'approves' the premiums, rates, and regulation of 'how' insurers can gather these premium-based rate-based data sets.

One of my former students used the Progressive “plug in” dongle at the DLC.
State Farm was charging $340/mo
Progressive first month $87.
Progressive second month $640. She came to me in tears. “This can’t be right, I said.”

After looking up the links that were provided with her permission, it clearly showed her driving habits. Speeds over 85mph 12x that month. Hundreds of miles driven between 1am and 4am. Lateral g force and yaw data.

My suggestion to her was simple. Change your ways or switch back to State Farm, which she did.

This was over 5 years ago.

Every driver is different, and there are matrixes that the actuaries use for our indiscretions.

 

[Maquis]

Thanks for explaining this. However, it begs the question: if it isn't legal to use driver specific data to change driver specific rates, how are they using traffic violations against people?

The difference is that everyone with a violation takes an equivalent hit. It not really “individualized.”

 

[Lightning Rod]

Not quite so for the State Farm Drive Safe & Save program, for which @rv7pilot has posted a screen capture image above.

State Farm asks you to specify a principal driver for each vehicle. You're given a battery-powered Bluetooth beacon to put in each car. Whoever is the driver is supposed to have BT turned on on his/her phone, and passengers are supposed to turn off BT on their phones (what a practical idea! ). What's typically happened in the past is my wife forgets to turn off her BT; she gets in my truck first and is assigned as the driver, and sometimes even when I get in first, her iPhone will get the connection and she'll get credit for being the driver.

Also, the State Farm app monitors everything through GPS and accelerometer readings from the iPhone, not the truck. Data is accumulated on the iPhone and either transmitted cellularly or via your next Wi-Fi connection if you don't want to burn cellular data through the Drive Safe & Save app. So, yes, Drive Safe & Safe monitors speed, braking, acceleration, cornering, and phone distraction (touching your iPhone screen while you're moving). You can tap the truck Sync screen all day long, and it's not counted as a distraction because only stuff detected by your smartphone registers.

The good thing about Drive Safe & Save is that you get an insurance discount from State Farm for using it. Much of the discount is based on how few miles you drive, so one of the app's primary purposes is documenting how many miles you actually drove and how you drove them.

Another good thing is that you get immediate feedback on how the app scored you. I got so frustrated with Drive Safe & Save's infuriating idiosyncrasies that I asked my agent to switch me to Connected Services insurance data sharing. However, I decided I was getting no immediate feedback on how I was being scored and switched back to Drive Safe & Save.

But if you check out the Apple App Store reviews, you'll see the performance of the app is dissed by many, many users - and I agree with most of the negative reviews. It's way too sensitive to cornering, braking, and acceleration. I've gotten dinged for going around a sharp curve at or less than the posted speed limit - and often, it can't distinguish cornering like that from acceleration in a straight line. The app encourages you to run yellow lights because you know you'll be dinged for excessive braking if a light unexpectedly begins to change and you have to brake hard, etc.

I don't think the technology is there in smartphones to support what State Farm wants to do with the app. My most recent aggravation is the app for some reason (iPhone GPS output?) had me staying on a 45 mph access road rather than entering a local high-speed loop. I was flagged for doing 60 mph in a 45-mph zone on the access road and the map depiction of my trip had me whizzing through several traffic light intersections along the access road at 60 mph! When I complained to my agent about this, she just said the app has improved tremendously from what it used to be. The app has no built-in feedback mechanism. There is 24x7 technical support, but I've never gotten any feedback that the tech support has corrected any errors I've complained about.

So, I have no problem with my driving data being collected but I do have a problem with shoddy data collection technology that might be reporting that I'm a bad driver when I'm not. I don't like the flakiness of the Drive Safe & Save monitoring, but I'll take whatever insurance discount I can get for putting up with the app...

BTW, the ironic thing is the State Farm Drive Safe & Save app currently allows you to go up to 5 mph over the speed limit before it dings you for "speeding!" That's hilarious, given how overly sensitive the app is to braking, acceleration, and cornering.

State Farm is what I have. My agent told me a couple years ago that if I elect to go with the Drive Safe program, and you drive like a maniac, the worst that would happen is, you'll save 3 percent of what you're currently paying. If you drive safely, your savings will be much greater.

I never got around to doing it because I don't like the idea that someone or something is constantly monitoring my driving habits. For the record, I habitually drive 9 mph over the limit, and sometimes faster. It's been over 3 years since I've had a moving violation. I just don't like the idea of someone collecting my driving data.

Sponsored