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Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

arstechnica.com

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Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#41

Post by wbl »

eptcyka wrote: post #19
wbl wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it when unsafe drivers pay the costs of the way they endanger all of us.

Oh yeah, I loved paying more than the purchase price of the car per year as a young driver. I have since crashed 0 cars, I am yet to kill anyone. In fact, the car mechanically totaled itself before I got to finish my years worth of insurance. On which I never got a refund on. The pay-as-you-drive model might paint a picture of a more equal playing field, where everyone pays what they are due, but I think it is mostly…

You'd be far better off with better discrimination than them just looking at age.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#42

Post by likeabatterycar »

wbl wrote: post #9
rs999gti wrote: post #5

This is Allstate, the house, trying to maintain their edge over their customers, the players. If they get additional info that tells them you are an unsafe driver, then their odds of you not getting into an accident diminish and their goes their premiums, the bets. Yah yah insurance reduces risks instead of adding it like gambling, but the analogies are still there.

I like it when unsafe drivers pay the costs of the way they endanger all of us.

'Unsafe' is a subjective label often applied haphazardly. I find people quick to label others as 'unsafe' tend to behave in unsafe ways of their own on the road, such as parking themselves in the left lane at or below the speed limit and refusing to move over.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#43

Post by cossatot »

airstrike wrote: post #27
esafak wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On average you will pay more, but not all at once, which may be prohibitively expensive. There will still be value in insurance.

That's the same as putting it in a piggy bank, isn't it? Or even better in a fixed income account.

No, because the amount of money you have in a bank account accumulates linearly, so you can only pay up to what you have put in. With insurance, you can get a payout more than what you have contributed up to that point, which is necessary for covering catastrophic damages.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#44

Post by rconti »

wbl wrote: post #9
rs999gti wrote: post #5

This is Allstate, the house, trying to maintain their edge over their customers, the players. If they get additional info that tells them you are an unsafe driver, then their odds of you not getting into an accident diminish and their goes their premiums, the bets. Yah yah insurance reduces risks instead of adding it like gambling, but the analogies are still there.

I like it when unsafe drivers pay the costs of the way they endanger all of us.

I like it when people naïvely believe the insurance companies' model of safety has anything to do with actual safety.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#45

Post by _DeadFred_ »

jgalt212 wrote: post #35

There are too many proactively dangerous drivers on the road. And if these invasive methods make it harder for them to continue to drive this way, I am OK with it.

I'd prefer basic traffic enforcement to normalizing mass, sneaky, pervasive surveillance.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#46

Post by ensignavenger »

miohtama wrote: post #4

It makes sense to share your data with an insurance provider if you are a well-behaved driver. It is well-behaved drivers that subside the insurance cost of reckless drivers.

I am not convinced that the data and the way they use it is a reliable indicator of ones driving safety.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#47

Post by BobaFloutist »

airstrike wrote: post #27
esafak wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On average you will pay more, but not all at once, which may be prohibitively expensive. There will still be value in insurance.

That's the same as putting it in a piggy bank, isn't it? Or even better in a fixed income account.

Exactly the same, as long as you don't get unlucky and have an accident before you've saved up enough. Which is the entire point of insurance.

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#48

Post by rconti »

miohtama wrote: post #4

It makes sense to share your data with an insurance provider if you are a well-behaved driver. It is well-behaved drivers that subside the insurance cost of reckless drivers.

First they came for the speeders, but I had nothing to fear, for I was not a speeder...

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#49

Post by StackRanker3000 »

hatsunearu wrote: post #29
wbl wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it when unsafe drivers pay the costs of the way they endanger all of us.

If you actually have a tracking system like this (a lot of insurance companies will offer it), you'll find the bar for unsafe driving is ridiculously low. The truth is insurance agencies always want to find a reason to increase your premiums, because the law says you can't just increase the premiums for no reason. Most premiums are lower than what it "needs" to be, so if they find an excuse, they will jack up the pre…

How does that work in practice? Do insurers have to share their models with the regulator?

Re: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to track driving behavior: lawsuit

#50

Post by nickburns »

Scoundreller wrote: post #18

At least GasBuddy still works well if you only share while using app and you can generally do without precise location. In terms of its benefits, at least in Canada, it saves me a bunch of dough on gas. Highly recommended. Though I like the French approach where gas prices are all on a government website without needing to depend on crowd-sourcing: https://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/ I’m more worried about a navigat…

How much money do you estimate you've actually saved using GasBuddy?
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