Two U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to analyze automakers that sell their customers’ driving data to brokers who bundle the info after which sell it to insurance firms.
In a Letter to FTC Chair Linda KhanDemocrats Ron Wyden of Oregon and Edward Markey of Massachusetts claim that General Motors, Hyundai, Honda and possibly others share drivers’ data, equivalent to sudden braking and acceleration.
The automakers used deceptive tactics to trick customers into agreeing to share data with brokers, the senators said in an announcement on Friday.
After reading a report in The New York TimesWyden’s office investigated the three automakers and located that they shared data with broker Verisk Analytics. In the letter to Khan, the senators wrote that every one three automakers confirmed the disclosure of the info. GM also confirmed that it shared customer location data with two other firms that the automaker declined to call, the letter said.
Verisk used the info to create driving behavior reports and sold them to insurance firms, the letter said. Some automakers could have deceived their customers by promoting the disclosure of the info as a method to lower insurance bills without telling them that some insurers might charge higher fees, the senators wrote.
“If the FTC finds that these companies have violated the law, we urge you to hold the companies and their officers accountable,” the senators wrote to Khan.
GM wouldn’t say how much vehicle data it shared with brokers or how much it paid for it, based on the letter. Wyden’s office found that Hyundai shared data on 1.7 million vehicles and received just over $1 million for it, while Honda received slightly below $26,000 for data on 97,000 vehicles, the senators said.
A message was left after business hours on Friday requesting a response from the FTC.
In an email, GM denied that it deceived customers and tricked them into signing up for the data-sharing program with Verisk. The data-sharing partnerships with Verisk and LexisNexis were terminated in March and the “Smart Driver” data-sharing program resulted in June, GM said.
“Data was only passed on to an insurer if a customer obtained a quote directly from the insurer of his choice and gave that insurer separate consent,” the e-mail said.
The company said it shares “anonymized” data with partners to enhance city infrastructure and make streets safer.
Hyundai said in an announcement that the senators’ letter misrepresents the corporate’s privacy policies and that the corporate has safeguards in place to be certain that customers consent to sharing driving information with insurers.
Customers would have the chance to forward their driving results to their insurers via Verisk and thus profit from possible benefits equivalent to discounts for good driving, it said.
“It is important to note that Verisk has not been authorized by Hyundai or the customer to share Drive Score data with insurers until the customer has explicitly consented to this on an insurer’s website or app,” Hyundai said.
Honda also said customers had to join this system with Verisk. Some customers with good driving records got the chance to just accept discount offers from insurers. “Without this clear second consent from the customer, no identifiable consumer information was shared with an insurance company,” Honda said.
Verisk also disagreed with Wyden and Markey, saying in an announcement that it “works to ensure data is accessed and used appropriately.” The company said responsible data management is “the cornerstone of our business.”
