Privacy experts worry insurers can use data harvested by mobility analytics startups like Mobileye to raise rates on drivers depending on where they drive
Keith Barry / Consumer Reports : Tweets: @itskeithbarry Tweets: Keith Barry / @itskeithbarry : My latest for @ConsumerReports: Those safety systems in new cars aren't just keeping you from crashing. They're building a massive map of the world, every time you drive, and that map is for sale https://www.consumerreports.org/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
This Consumer Reports piece is an early warning in a story that has since been confirmed by reporting on both sides of the pipeline. On the collection side, in-car video analysis pitched at CES as a safety tool was explicitly framed by vendors as data carmakers and ride-hailing firms could gather to sell while enhancing safety. On the monetization side, GM, Honda, Kia, Hyundai and others have since added app features that rate people's driving and route the data to brokers like LexisNexis.
First-order effects
- Drivers with ADAS-equipped cars are generating a street-level map every trip they take, and privacy experts warn insurers could buy that mobility data to price premiums on where a person drives, not just how.
Second-order effects
- Brokers like LexisNexis sit between automakers and insurers as the distribution layer for this data, echoing the broader connected vehicle data marketplace of dozens of companies operating with little oversight; automakers gain a new revenue stream from cars they have already sold.
Third-order effects
- If location-based pricing takes hold, the fight over who controls vehicle data — which manufacturers already used to steer owners toward their own service networks by withholding performance and maintenance data — extends to insurance, pushing regulators toward rules for a market that today has few.
The trend: Every sensor added to cars in the name of safety is becoming a salable data asset, moving driver risk assessment from behavior-based telematics toward location surveillance.