Popular smartphone apps used to track people’s location and provide weather reports may hand over driving data to a firm that sells the information to insurance companies for the purposes of setting rates for unsuspecting motorists, according to a report.
The subscription-based apps Life360, MyRadar and Gas Buddy are providing user data to an Allstate-owned company, Arity, which computes the numbers to create a “driving score” that takes into account any risky behavior behind the wheel, such as distracted driving, speeding and sudden braking.
That information is then sold to other insurance firms — with user consent — which set rates for their customers, according to The New York Times.
Life360, which is used by parents to keep track of their kids’ locations; Gas Buddy, which helps drivers find gas stations that offer the cheapest fuel; and MyRadar, which tracks storms and inclement weather, all have opt-in driving analysis features that rely on sensor and motion data transmitted by smartphones, according to the report.
The opt-in feature for Gas Buddy gives users information on the fuel efficiency for their drives — a technology that is “powered by Arity.”
Allstate’s web site says that Arity has collected “more than a trillion miles of driving data” which “helps inform how transportation, insurance and other businesses can evolve to better serve their customers.”
An Arity spokesperson told the Times that users “agree to Arity’s Privacy Statement before they opt in to the Drives function.”
But users are not informed about what Arity is or what it does, and the agreement is written in small gray font under a big red button that reads “Join Drives.”
By clicking on “Join Drives,” users consent to share “certain information” with Arity and they agree to Arity’s privacy statement, which is hyperlinked, according to the report.
Life360 offers a similar opt-in function which collects drivers’ geolocation and mobile device sensor data and then shares it with Arity “so they can work with participating insurance companies to better understand how you behave behind the wheel and make offers based on how you drive,” according to its web site.
Users can opt out of sharing their personal information by going to the settings feature and clicking on “privacy and security.” They can then click on an option that reads “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.”
Kathleen Lomax, a New Jersey resident who paid for a $100 annual subscription to Life360 in order to track the location of her husband and her two 18-year-old daughters, told the Times that she canceled the app when she learned that it was selling users’ driving data.
“No one who realizes what they’re doing would consent,” Lomax said.
A Life360 spokesperson told the Times that “personally identifiable driving data” for Lomax and her family were never shared with an insurance company and that any subscriber to the app must consent before their data is passed on to a third party.
The spokesperson also told the Times that Arity was required to “take steps with its partners” to identify Life360 as the data source when it was used to calculate insurance quotes.
A Life360 spokesperson told The Post that the Times story was “inaccurate and misleading” with regards to the company’s data-sharing policies.
“Life360 does not share personally identifiable driving data with insurance companies to influence our members’ insurance premiums unless a member explicitly requests that we do so,” the spokesperson said.
“We require specific, opt-in consent before sharing a member’s personal driving data for personalized insurance quotes.”
The company rep added that the Times “chose to disregard” a screenshot of what the opt-in screen looks like on the app.
Life360 “never shared the personal driving information of Ms. Lomax” because “she never provided that consent,” according to the company.
The spokesperson said that Life360 “told this to both Ms. Lomax” and the Times.
Lomax confirmed that her data was never sold. She told The Post that she opted out of the Life360 data-sharing option with Arity.
“There may be companies that share data with insurance companies without the driver’s full knowledge or affirmative consent, but Life360 is not one of those,” the company rep told The Post.
The Post has sought comment from the Times.
A GasBuddy spokesperson said that Arity offers “enhanced services” and “personalized offerings” to users “who choose to opt in.”
Auto insurance pricing factors in several data points including credit history, gender, marital status, age, the kind of car you drive and where you live, according to industry experts.
People with poor credit history are often charged more for car insurance even if they have a clean driving record, Michael DeLong of the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America told the Times.
The Post has sought comment from GasBuddy and MyRadar.
An Arity spokesperson told The Post: “Arity partners with mobile app publishers to provide value features, like Crash Detection and fuel efficiency to users who opt-in for those services.”
“For the use of personalized auto insurance pricing, consumers must clearly and explicitly opt-in to have Arity create and send a summary of their driving data via the Arity IQ network and consumers can request a copy of this driving report once they opt-in to share their driving data for a personalized insurance quote,” a company rep told The Post.
Earlier this year, drivers reported that their insurance rates went up after the car companies from which they bought their vehicle sent data about their driving behavior to issuers without their knowledge.
