With that data—plus, in some cases, data from connected vehicles—Allstate could see when, how far, and for how long someone was driving, along with “hard braking events” and “whether a consumer picked up or opened their phone while traveling at certain speeds,” according to the complaint.
Texas’ lawsuit claims that Arity incentivized—through “generous bonus incentives”—apps like GasBuddy, a gas price-tracking app, and Life360, which is intended to keep tabs on family members’ location, to “increas[e] the size of their dataset.” Under their agreements with app makers, Arity had “varying levels of control over the privacy disclosures and consent language” shown to app users, according to the complaint.
Reached for comment by Ars, Allstate Corporation provided a statement: “Arity helps consumers get the most accurate auto insurance price after they consent in a simple and transparent way that fully complies with all laws and regulations.”
Nine car brands sharing data
The suit also cites Allstate as gathering direct car use data from Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram vehicles.
Texas is one of the states that sued General Motors last year for seeking driver data in a less roundabout fashion. GM quietly included “usage-based insurance providers” in its privacy notice for its connected-car service OnStar. A New York Times report revealed that some GM drivers were having car insurance rates adjusted upward or outright denied as a result. GM ultimately stopped sharing driver data with insurers through third-party data brokers, one of which shut down soon after.
This post was updated to include a comment from Allstate.
