The auto insurance industry increasingly relies on telematics data to assess risks and set premiums. However, this shift has raised privacy concerns, as evidenced by lawsuits against General Motors and Allstate. These cases highlight the need for a transparent and ethical approach to data collection, emphasizing explicit consent and controllable data sharing.
⚖️ Lawsuits Against General Motors and Allstate
In January 2025, Allstate faced a lawsuit from the state of Texas accusing its data analytics unit, Arity, of tracking drivers via cell phones without consent. Allegedly, Allstate collected vast amounts of data from apps like GasBuddy and vehicle manufacturers like Toyota and Mazda – data reportedly used to increase premiums and deny coverage.
Similarly, GM faced a lawsuit in August 2024 for installing tracking technology in 14+ million vehicles to collect and sell driver data without consent.
These lawsuits allege privacy law violations, highlight the risk of costly legal battles, and erode trust in the insurance industry.
✅ A Better Way
These risks can be mitigated with an ethical, transparent data collection method built on four principles:
✋ Explicit consent: Collect data only with the explicit consent of the business and/or fleet operator.
🔗 Share data – don’t sell it: Data owners share data for a specific purpose – to obtain quotes and service insurance policies. Sharing needs to practically fit into the way customers want to buy insurance.
🛡️ Data privacy and security: Any data processor needs to comply with privacy and cyber security standards, laws, and regulations.
❌ “The right to be forgotten:” Cease collection and securely remove data when policies are canceled or quotes are declined.
✅ Benefits of Ethical Data Practices
Draivn Visibility creates value for both insurers and fleets:
🤝 Trust: We help build trust within the insurance ecosystem by prioritizing data-sharing consent and transparency.
✔️ Compliance: Our robust data governance framework ensures compliance with privacy laws and regulations, minimizing legal risks.
😊 Customer experience: Respect for privacy and streamlined processes increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.
📈 Better business outcomes: Embedding the right practices provides a stable and legally sound foundation for leveraging telematics to improve customer outcomes.
At Draivn, we anticipated the need to respect data privacy and security and built it into the foundation of our Draivn Visibility platform. 🚀 Reach out to learn more about how we mitigate risks and enable telematics-based commercial auto insurance: https://draivn.com/
