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Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

nytimes.com

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Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#171

Post by giantg2 »

unethical_ban wrote: post #169

Can this be opted out at the dealer? Black box collection OR wireless connectivity? If not, are there guides on disabling the modem without damaging diagnostics or infotainment? I want a car that does not transmit data. Which means I may need to get my 2010s crossover rebuilt and reupholstered instead of getting a new car.

Yes, many models have guides out there for disabling wireless connections. On a previous vehicle of mine, it was as simple as disconnecting the bridge/jumper between the main board and the wireless board.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#172

Post by macNchz »

unethical_ban wrote: post #169

Can this be opted out at the dealer? Black box collection OR wireless connectivity? If not, are there guides on disabling the modem without damaging diagnostics or infotainment? I want a car that does not transmit data. Which means I may need to get my 2010s crossover rebuilt and reupholstered instead of getting a new car.

I think it varies manufacturer to manufacturer, but even those that make it possible seemingly make you jump through hoops. I was researching potential replacements for my 16 year old car and found a lot of discussion about this re Mazda models:

https://www.cx30talk.com/threads/thoughts-on-tcu-disable.374...

> Mazda CEC makes it quite difficult to actually request/disable your TCU. It can take many phone calls and escalations to get someout to understand the request and actually "push the button" to send the disable event to your car.

Honestly I’m just totally disinterested in just about every current new car model.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#174

Post by giantg2 »

colpabar wrote: post #142
HankB99 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, right at the top > We may modify this Privacy Notice by posting a new version at this website effective on the date of publication. No actual notification needed. Are they screaming to be regulated?

Isn't this how all ToS work though? They all contain some clause that says "actually we reserve the right to do whatever we want whenever we want and everything you read here is meaningless"

Yep, and that's why physically defeating the device is always better than relying on the other party to honor their word. Disconnect the wireless module/board and they can't send your data.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#175

Post by nhance »

I have been convinced for several years now that insurance companies are likely buying up personal data from many different sources. They seem to be ideal consumers because it'll lead to better outcomes when they can increase rates on those that identify as risky.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#176

Post by ozymandium »

The easiest way to disable this is by physically removing the cell modem from your vehicle, which is very straightforward. Without egress, the only way for data harvesting to occur is by physical access, typically at a dealership. However, virtually all automotive cell modems are either packaged on the same chip as the GNSS receiver, or colocated on the same daughter board. As such, choosing to retain control over your data typically comes at the cost of foregoing the built in navigation system and other features such as emergency calling.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#177

Post by elzbardico »

ozymandium wrote: post #176

The easiest way to disable this is by physically removing the cell modem from your vehicle, which is very straightforward. Without egress, the only way for data harvesting to occur is by physical access, typically at a dealership. However, virtually all automotive cell modems are either packaged on the same chip as the GNSS receiver, or colocated on the same daughter board. As such, choosing to retain control over yo…

Unless most people do it, their answer will be to put you on the high risk bucket by default.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#178

Post by elzbardico »

ytx wrote: post #170

> "More specifically, automakers are selling access to the data to Lexis Nexis, which is then crafting “risk scores” insurance companies then use to adjust rates. Usually upward" In an ideal world, such data-harvesting might lead to cheaper prices / a more efficient insurance market - which would make the privacy loss worth considering from a trade-off standpoint, at least in theory. Unfortunately it's instead likely…

Basically they keep the profits and socialize the risks.

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#179

Post by rubatuga »

The easiest way to disable this in a Chevrolet with OnStar is to pull the fuse (Fuse 38 under the dash for the Chevrolet Malibu 2024). Other options disconnecting the antenna (can still connect if strong signal), or pulling out the box/microphone (disassembly required). At least for the 2024 model CarPlay features seems to keep working, but I haven't tested Bluetooth yet.

There's somebody on YouTube describing the parts of the OnStar feature: https://youtu.be/TZILodhvjdw?feature=shared

Re: Automakers are sharing consumers' driving behavior with insurance companies

#180

Post by ldayley »

nhance wrote: post #175

I have been convinced for several years now that insurance companies are likely buying up personal data from many different sources. They seem to be ideal consumers because it'll lead to better outcomes when they can increase rates on those that identify as risky.

This has been true for several years. An insurance agent once told me that there are life insurance companies dropping the requirement for blood draws / medical exams and are just buying prescription records to correlate with financial, educational, and other behavioral data.

Edit: changed prescription “data” to “records”

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