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

[Lightning Rod]

I've often wondered if my driving habits can be pulled from the trucks database, but it looks like some of these auto companies are sharing this data, for profit.

• A large amount of driver data from internet-connected vehicles is being shared with the drivers' insurance companies, the New York Times reported this week.
• Some people don't realize that their driving habits are being monitored in a way that can affect their insurance premiums.

Here is the full article...

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a60175396/connected-cars-driver-data-tracking-insurance/

Sponsored

 

[Blochead21]

Just saw a post earlier on Reddit regarding this and the users rates actually went up.

https://www.reddit.com/r/F150Lightning/s/GsbsWNRKcU

 

[Runaway Tractor]

This is opt-in through the sync menus on Ford vehicles. You can opt-in to have your driving data shared for insurance purposes. Ford shares this data with Lexis-Nexis, a big data company. Insurance companies purchase data from Lexis=Nexis and many many sources that can be related to specific customers or groups.

I recommend you do NOT opt-in to this, and frankly should enable as few of those options as possible.

 

[Whammy Bar]

In related news, water is wet.

 

[Mcfly]

I just turned off Share Driving Data this morning after seeing the Reddit post. Looking at the info next to each setting I think this is the correct one to turn off. Hopefully this doesn't affect Ford sending updates to your truck.

 

[Lightning Rod]

In related news, water is wet.

It appears that this issue is not as commonly known as water being wet, after all.

 

[vvgogh]

I just turned off Share Driving Data which is described as "Share driving data and usage information such as braking, seat belt status, accelerator pedal and use of driver's assist features with us AND OUR SERVICE PROVIDERS to enable connected services."

In vehicle center screen -> Settings -> Connectivity --> Connected Vehicle Features --> Share Driving Data​

There is a separate item under Feature Settings --> "Insurance-Related Data" which has a lock icon and is OFF with no description available.

In FordPass on your phone, there is another setting "Do not sell my personal information." There are three forms to complete. Each concludes with "Thank you for submitting your request. A company representative with review your request and reach out to you at the submitted email address."

I did the FordPass phone application opt-out of selling my personal information months ago. They've never contacted me. It's likely Ford is still selling my information months after I told them do not sell my personal information.

 

[hturnerfamily]

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.

 

[BoomerRocco]

I just turned off Share Driving Data this morning after seeing the Reddit post. Looking at the info next to each setting I think this is the correct one to turn off. Hopefully this doesn't affect Ford sending updates to your truck.

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

 

[Maxx]

I just turned off Share Driving Data this morning after seeing the Reddit post. Looking at the info next to each setting I think this is the correct one to turn off. Hopefully this doesn't affect Ford sending updates to your truck.

Don't be surprised if the charging details and ability to charge to 100% in Ford-Pass is missing. Ford is taking some unrelated functionality hostage to force you to share driving data.

Jim Farley: “I thought the electric car was going to be the coolest thing happening in my career; I was wrong. It’s the connected-data vehicle that is really the game changer in our industry.”

My truck driving assistant features has come on many times out of abundance of caution even when I was in complete control with full awareness of my surroundings. For example I have a tight driveway and every time I try to back in fast to clear the road for the traffic patiently waiting for me, it slams on the break. Backing in the same way but slower is OK with the truck. I can live with my car telling me how to behave instead of the other way around as long as it is between the two of us. But spying on me and having total strangers (including Insurance company computers) in on our private business is a whole new level of breech of trust.

Whether our personal driving data has already been sold is not as much of a problem as the fact that it can be sold. Whenever there is a value in a product, you bet your booty someone at some point will try to monetize it. The only way to make sure this data is not misused is that it is not collected to begin with.

 

[Mcfly]

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 for posting that link, I signed up to opt out.

 

[Heliian]

It's been in the truck all along, I opt in to everything except insurance data. I'm going to make those buggers work to collect my data.

Data collection works both ways though, they can actually use the data to improve the products you're using. The insurance companies aren't going to magically lower your rates. They give you a tracking dongle now for that.

 

[OtterJohn]

Don't be surprised if the charging details and ability to charge to 100% in Ford-Pass is missing.

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).

 

[Maxx]

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).

I reached out to Ford to see if it is a mistake and if they are willing to separate it. They said it is intentional and they are keeping it the way it is.

 

[OtterJohn]

I reached out to Ford to see if it is a mistake and if they are willing to separate it. They said it is intentional and they are keeping it the way it is.

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.

Sponsored