Lets say this again. If you have a cell phone you can be watched/tracked/spied on!! Your on line activity is not a secret and not private. This should never ever come as a surprise or NEWS! sigh 🤦

Yet another reason for why I don't have a cell phone. I may be the last person on earth, but I'm very happy without it.

It's even more involved than you might think. Several car manufacturers share your driving information directly with insurance companies. Most people are unaware of it and you can opt out but you may have to search to find how to do it.

From the NYTimes:

The information "included start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html

laceyvail - I have never owned a cell phone either. Guess it is just you and me that are the only people on Earth without one.

As always, you have to decide if the benefits are worth the cost. The benefit of having a smartphone is worth the costs of some monitoring to me. But the benefits of a particular app may or may not be worth it to me. YMMV.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, so if you're getting something from a company (like an app) for free, you should be looking for what it's costing you (in a non-monetary sense).....no company is doing it for the good of the community.

I’ve had the Gas Buddy app on my phone since 2013. I turn off its access to my phone’s location when not on a road trip where I might need its services; which is most of the time. Years back, they sent me an email saying they’d noticed I’d disabled tracking and asked me to enable tracking on their app at all times. Their pitch was that since they were a free app they needed to sell this information to support the app. I appreciated the honesty but it felt a bit creepy.

Well of course they do. What do people expect? That a company is just going to give people money for the heck of it? Sale of data = money.

Yes, I'm being tracked. Yes, I get a discount on my car insurance policy through Allstate. It's OK.

"Yes, I'm being tracked. Yes, I get a discount on my car insurance policy through Allstate. It's OK."

Until it's not. Insurance companies may use that data to reduce or deny a claim.

My car also has the tracking/driving habits connection option, which I disabled. I’m an excellent driver with no at-fault crashes or moving violations in 40+ years of driving. But I drive spiritedly and enjoy the actual *driving* so I’m setting up for curve apexes and challenging my skillset every time I’m behind the wheel. I dont need my insurance company thinking I’m ”high risk” for that sort of skilled driving.

Related: I'm thinking of putting a camera on our car. IDK if it might have helped in the following event, but may be others, and I think there will be another presumption of guilt because we are both Seniors.

DH had started to leave a parallel parking space. He'd backed up a little to gain space, then put the car in gear to pull out while he looked over his left shoulder for an opening in traffic. At that point the man in the car ahead of his backed into our car, paused, then drove off before DH could get out of the car to address him. We asked State Farm for help; got none, but the event created a record. State Farm raised our rate and we were out $2000 to repair our car. (I'm leaving out the middle where we finally identified the other driver, who first claimed no knowledge of the incident, then said had DH hit his car.) The police washed their hands and called this a 50/50 no fault accident.

Do you think a car camera is a good idea? What do you know about them?

Interesting...I thought it gave an option of only use tracking while the app is in use...some of the apps give you that option.

I have front and rear cameras on my car. They're there to protect me and also to keep me honest.

That piece is typical of sloppy writing . The author did enough work to get a headline but missed the story.

At least on iPhones, there's a setting for each app- Allow location Always, or only when using app, or never. Some apps need access to use- like a map for navigation- while some don't.

Where Is, the app to find family members with advance permission, does, of course.

it's a good practice to keep location Off when not Iin use because it sucks a lot of battery power.

Anyone who wants to know where I am is welcome to know. At this moment, I'm right here.

I’m sure that things like GoodRX also track our Rx purchases and I wonder if they sell that to other companies.

in about 1990 I bought a house from someone who received a lot of catalogs andfree magazines. Based on all that, and only that, I learned a lot about her, what she did for a living, her style, and some more personal information.

chisue, we recently got a car camera, front and back. It does not have wifi capability (neither does the car) so we occasionally download the data from the little card in it. We did it through that place on 41.

I used to have a dashcam in my car, because I drove so much the odds of my getting involved (even peripherally) in an accident were greater and I thought it would be helpful. I used it for about 5 years, then decided it wasn't worth it.

Seems some folks may have missed the point of the article:

(bolding by me)

"...A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges that a data broker called Arity — a subsidiary of Allstate Insurance — embedded tracking software into apps like Life360 and GasBuddy.

The software allegedly monitors users' real-time location and movement without clearly disclosing that companies can use it to adjust insurance prices.

Paxton alleges that “the personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law.”

Allstate has stated that Arity is a separate legal entity, but reporters who contacted Arity received a response from an Allstate email address...."

And this suggests how inaccurate that tracking can be :

"...Tina Marie Johnson also reported that her insurer’s “safe driving” app penalized her for her car’s automatic braking, a safety feature she can’t control. She was also flagged for erratic driving while using a mobility scooter in a grocery store...."

No, carol, I think you're trying too hard to back up your comment (and tout the insights of what I think is a poor piece written by someone who completely misunderstood what was going on). You've again overlooked what's really going on, as I explained and thought to be obvious.

Let's go through some common sense steps that the "injured persons" apparently failed to realize:

-When a new app installs, the "permissions" need to be agreed to. Or if not, they should be reviewed after the app is installed. Restricting or revoking access to location is a common sense step that should always be done. Doesn't everyone know that?

-When one gets an "account" with sites like those cited, it's normal practice that the user has to click a box to agree to a release of information. No "account", no release. You don't need an account to use Gas Buddy. As an example, I don't and I do.

-There's no reason for and many reasons not to keep the location function active just as an every day, sunup to sundown setting. Best practice and commons sense says to keep it off other then when the user decides it's needed. Then, back to off.

The writer got the headline and missed the story. There's no excuse for this lack of common sense, as I've again outlined. The "victims" are victims of their own careless conduct. I don't feel sorry for them.

And let's examine Texas Attorney General Paxton's record:

He set in place a rule to go after "rogue DAs". He's been sued over that.

He was found to have violated the Texas Whistleblower rule, which triggered compensation payments of ~$6 million..

AND, he's expected to run for Senate.

Here's a summary

Ken Paxton timeline: Allegations against Texas AG through the years

Again, there was much more going on concerning the story than the piece described. It's an obvious political move, not a legal one.

On Nextdoor, neighbors ALL the time tout how awesome it is they have a dashcam. I don't have one. I have uninsured drivers insurance. I have a zero deductible on my comp insurance. I have FREE glass replacement. I wouldn't rule out getting a dash cam....

I have no need or interest in a dashcam, I'm not sure what it would do for me.

I had my first real car accident not too long ago. I was driving down a relatively wide and well travelled street and a car turned left in front of me (from a left turn lane but not at a signaled intersection) and cut me off. I couldn't stop fast enough so I hit his front right fender. My car, repair estimate $9K to fix, was treated as a total by my insurance company and I received a generous payment.

When the insurance companies met for subrogation (which driver and so which insurance company was to be determined as responsible), there was no agreement (which is typical) and it went to arbitration. For whatever reason, the arbitrater decided I was at fault (!) and I was so advised. I later spoke to the claims adjuster and asked how I could be responsible in such instance and he responded that the arbitrator's decision puzzled him too. They were bound by the outcome and had to reimburse the other driver's insurance company for their payments. BUT, my insurer said that they couldn't accept the outcome as regards my record and into my record was entered that the other driver was at fault. Result - no upward adjustment of my rate.

Would a dashcam have helped me? I don't think so.

They were making a left so I’d agree it’s odd that arbitration deemed you at fault. Glad your insurance companynwas reasonable, though some companies wouldn't raose your rates for a first time claim anyway. At least here in NY. Buy yes, dash cam footage can be admissable in court so it can he helpful to figjt a citiation, accident fault, or bodily harm lawsuit. i don't have any but have thought about it. My wife's car has an option to havw the existing cameras work as a dash cam for a one time fee. I've considered that. I assume it's only frony though as the rear camera retracts above a certain speed.

As for GasBuddy, I have location seevices off but who knows if/what they can still access, use, and sell. I’m gonna guess that if my insurance rates have gone up as a result, I’ve still net saved with cheaper gas. The fluctuation has been insane, particularly for premium. though it does seem to be getting slightly better.

That's cheap, bud. Add $1 or more for our prices. Take a look at the Gas Buddy national price heat map for the bad news. It's been like this since forever.

California is a gasoline island. We've long had our own chemical requirements for gas (anti-pollution) that makes refining more expensive. Only in-state refineries bother to do it so gas can't be brought in from other states. And when one refinery shuts down for maintenance or, as is happening, to be decommissioned, already limited supplies go down and prices go up. It's one of many factors that make much of the state, not just the larger urban areas, more expensive cost of living wise than elsewhere.

Believe it or not, the state government recently has been talking about taking over some refineries to insure continued operation and market supplies.

Oh, and as for

" some companies wouldn't raose your rates for a first time claim anyway. "

You're right. He mentioned that to me in our conversation. He also said that since they were entering in the record that the other driver was at fault, this "gimme" for the first time remains unused for me. With all the stories one hears about how insurance companies act, I wasn't sure what to expect. My experience was unexpectedly very satisfactory.