The state of Texas sued Allstate on Monday, accusing the insurer of illegally tracking drivers through their phones through a subsidiary called Arity that claimed to have the “world's largest database of driving behavior.”
“Allstate and Arity paid millions of dollars to mobile apps to install Allstate's tracking software,” state Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent, in violation of the law. “Texans deserve better and we will hold all of these companies accountable.”
Allstate and Arity did not respond to requests for comment.
The New York Times reported last year that information about people's driving behavior was being collected through smartphone apps, such as Life360 and GasBuddy, and sold to Arity, an analytics company founded by Allstate. Arity was able to analyze data collected from people's smartphones to determine how often they accelerated, braked suddenly, or were distracted by their phones while driving. He used that analysis to give them driving risk scores.
“Insurers then used those consumers' data to justify increasing their auto insurance premiums, denying them coverage or excluding them from coverage,” according to the attorney general's lawsuit, which accuses the companies of violating federal privacy laws. state.
According to the state lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County District Court, Arity has the location, movement and driving data of more than 45 million Americans who “were never informed or consented” to the continued collection and sale of your data.
Texas also sued General Motors last year over the collection of consumer driving data, following a Times report that GM and other automakers were selling information about people's driving to the insurance industry.
