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The New York Times reports that automakers and data companies are monetizing the driving data of millions of Americans, sometimes without their knowledge.
This may be a practice that many drivers are unaware of. With the rise of connected cars, some prominent automakers, including General Motors (GM), Honda, Kia, and Hyundai, are collecting data from drivers about when they drive and when they drive. If you drive too fast or brake suddenly.
Automakers can then send the collected details to global data brokers like LexisNexis, which generate personalized reports that auto insurers can use to justify premium increases.
“This isn’t happening to everyone,” Kashmir Hill, a journalist who covered the Times story, told CNBC. “Some car manufacturers have created these features in their car apps, and they are called driver scores, or driver feedback.”
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Hill discovered the story after reading posts from drivers on a car forum. Drivers were surprised to see their insurance premiums rising, and even more surprised to learn that such accurate data about drivers was being collected.
The program with GM is called “Smart Driver” and is touted as an optional free feature, but customers who spoke to the Times said they had no idea they were signing up for it.
“Especially in the case of General Motors, some people said, ‘I’ve never turned on my smart driver,'” Hill told CNBC. “It was probably registered at the dealership without their knowledge. Smart He gets a bonus for registering as a driver, so the salesperson turned it on.”
The 2023 GM Consultant Program Manual confirms that Smart Driver enrollment is eligible for bonuses.
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In the report, a Cadillac driver from Florida (who declined to be named because he is considering legal action against GM) said he was denied auto insurance by seven companies in December, including one The company cited a LexisNexis report that recorded the number of hard brakes and sudden brakes. Hard acceleration.
“We don’t know how the car defines it,” they told the Times. “I don’t feel like I’m driving aggressively or dangerously.”
The driver was ultimately able to secure car insurance through a private broker at twice the rate he had previously paid.
When they looked at the documents they received when they purchased the Cadillac, they found no mention of the smart driver, and they didn’t even know they had enrolled in the program.
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GM has had a relationship with LexisNexis since 2019. The automaker confirmed to the Times that it shares details about driving times, speeding, hard braking and acceleration with LexisNexis and another company called Verisk, an insurance rating agency.
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