Auto Insurers Allegedly Are Surreptitiously Collecting and Scoring Driver Data

Multiple smartphone apps including Life360 (a family tracking app), MyRadar (weather app), and GasBuddy (fuel price app) have implemented opt-in driving analysis features that collect sensor and motion data from phones to track driving behavior such as speeding, hard braking, and phone usage while driving. These features are powered by Arity, an analytics company founded by Allstate in 2016, which processes this data to create individual driving scores for tens of millions of users. Arity then sells access to these driving scores to auto insurance companies, who can request individual scores instantly to inform pricing decisions. The consent process involves small gray text under prominent buttons that mention sharing 'certain information' with Arity without clearly explaining what Arity does. Users like Kathleen Lomax, who paid $100 annually for Life360 to track her family, discovered the data sharing and canceled their subscriptions. Similarly, car manufacturers like Toyota have been collecting driving data through connected vehicle systems and sharing it with insurance data brokers. Insurance companies can use this data to target potential customers and set personalized rates based on actual driving behavior rather than demographic factors. The practice has raised concerns about privacy, transparency, and whether consumers truly understand what they are consenting to when they opt into these driving features.