Tracking Driver Behavior

Lucas Mearian warns about auto insurance companies tracking driver behavior using cell phone technology from Agero. The sensors of a driver's smartphone will be a key component in the deployment of inexpensive usage based insurance (UBI).

Mearian reports that "Agero claims that it serves 15 of the top 20 insurance companies and that 75% of the new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. have its telematics software in them. As a result, Agero has 'more information about cars and drivers than any other company.'"

Mearian notes that "If a driver is in an accident, his smartphone will let him know that it's about to send a notification to Agero; the driver has 30 seconds to cancel the notification." My concern is the potential liability for the costs associated with false alarms - ten seconds does not seem to be a long time to cancel a notification that could raise your insurance rates or even send an emergency squad to your location.

Mearian raises the issue of a driver's privacy, as U.S. law allows data aggregators to share the data they glean.

-DD