Two U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Commerce Fee to analyze automakers promoting prospects’ driving knowledge to brokers who bundle it after which promote it to insurance coverage firms.
In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Linda Khan, Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Edward Markey of Massachusetts allege that Common Motors, Hyundai, Honda and maybe others are sharing drivers’ knowledge, similar to sudden braking and acceleration.
The automakers, the senators stated in an announcement Friday, used misleading techniques to control prospects into signing up for disclosure of the information to brokers.
After studying a report in The New York Occasions, Wyden’s workplace seemed into the three automakers and located that they shared knowledge with dealer Verisk Analytics. Within the letter to Khan, the senators wrote that every one three automakers confirmed disclosure of the information. GM additionally confirmed that it disclosed buyer location knowledge to 2 different firms that the automaker wouldn’t title, the letter stated.
Verisk used the information to arrange studies on driving-behavior historical past and bought them to insurance coverage firms, the letter stated. Some automakers might have deceived prospects by promoting knowledge disclosures as a solution to scale back insurance coverage payments, with out telling them that some insurers may cost extra, the senators wrote.
“If the FTC determines that these companies violated the law, we urge you to hold the companies and their senior executives accountable,” the senators wrote to Khan.
GM wouldn’t say what number of automobiles’ knowledge was despatched to brokers or what it was paid, in line with the letter. Wyden’s workplace discovered that Hyundai shared knowledge from 1.7 million autos and was paid simply over $1 million, whereas Honda acquired just below $26,000 for knowledge from 97,000 autos, the senators stated.
A message was left Friday after enterprise hours searching for remark from the FTC.
In an e mail, GM denied that it deceived prospects into enrolling within the data-sharing program with Verisk. Knowledge-sharing partnerships with Verisk and LexisNexis have been canceled in March, and its data-sharing program known as “Smart Driver” resulted in June, GM stated.
“Data was only shared with an insurer if a customer initiated a quote directly with their chosen carrier and provided a separate consent to that carrier,” the e-mail stated.
The corporate stated it does share “de-identified” knowledge with companions to help metropolis infrastructure and make roads safer.
In an announcement, Hyundai stated the senators’ letter mischaracterizes its knowledge insurance policies and that it has safeguards to verify prospects conform to sharing driving info with insurers.
Prospects, it stated, had the choice to attach driving scores to their insurers via Verisk for doable advantages similar to good-driving reductions.
“It is important to note that Verisk was not authorized by Hyundai or the customer to share the Drive Score data with insurers until the customer affirmatively consented to this on an insurer’s website or app,” Hyundai stated.
Honda additionally stated that prospects needed to decide into this system with Verisk. Some prospects with good driving scores got the prospect to conform to low cost gives from insurers. “Without that clear second opt-in by the customer, no identifiable consumer information was shared with any insurance company,” Honda stated.
Verisk additionally disagreed with Wyden and Markey and stated in an announcement that it “acts to ensure data is accessed and used appropriately.” The corporate stated utilizing knowledge responsibly “is the cornerstone of our business.”
