Please welcome the latest invasion of our privacy. It’s called Pay As You Drive (PAYD) auto insurance. The concept is a simple one: a customer’s premium is tailored to his/her driving habits. This includes the number of miles driven, and also often includes the style (i.e. speed and acceleration) and time of driving. Many insurance carriers allow their customers to voluntarily select a PAYD plan. For example, Progressive offers the “My Rate” Program, and the company’s website boasts that “[i]f you’re a safe and/or occasional driver, you could pay less for auto insurance- a lot less!” In return for the discounted auto insurance, however, customers sacrifice their privacy. GPS tracking devices are installed to register customers’ driving habits. Is a better rate on auto insurance really worth sacrificing the constitutionally protected right to privacy? Although programs like Progressive’s “My Rate” are cause for concern (especially in this harsh economic climate where we’re all trying to save a buck), proposed legislation in California downright scares me. The proposal allows an insurer to offer self-reported estimated mileage plans (“EM”) and/or actual-mileage driven plans (“AMD”). An insurer may exclusively offer AMD plans, and, may, in turn, mandate the installation of GPS tracking devices. Insurance companies understandably wish to attain the most information possible so as to accurately measure a policyholder's risk. But, with increased technology, the question becomes how much is too much? We don’t want insurance companies knowing every detail of our personal life, no matter how helpful it may be for calculating risk.
There are not any direct constitutional issues, as the constitution obviously does not limit private companies and individuals. However, with PAYD, insurers will have access to information such as speed and style of driving (and maybe even location, although supposedly the location of the vehicle will be left out of the data collected), and it is hard to imagine that the government wouldn’t try to get its hands on such information. For example, if the government is prosecuting an individual for vehicular manslaughter, it would likely seek to subpoena the information collected by PAYD insurers--information that would be more readily available than it would generally be.
There are, to be sure, benefits that come along with PAYD auto insurance. At least theoretically, those with PAYD policies will curtail the amount they drive, and, thus, reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, if the insurance market becomes dominated by AMD plans, our privacy will be seriously jeopardized. Do the potentially lower insurance rates and environmental benefits justify an infringement on our constitutional right to privacy?
This report is misguided and alarmist: Check out MileMeter in Texas. If you subscribe to MileMeter, you pay some 5 cents or less per mile and there are no privacy issues. The only data available to the insurer or the police is your actual odometer reading, at least as far as simple liability insurance is concerned.
ReplyDeleteAnyone with numerous cars, like Jay Leno, would be a fool not to have MileMeter insurance.
www.milemeter.com
It is not about what "is" available it's about what could be available Jim. Do you work for Milemeter/
ReplyDeleteA few clarifications- PAYD is not as widely available as this blog may make it seem. There are only a few carriers that offer this product, and there are two different flavors. One looks at mileage only, and the other looks at driving habits, insured profile, and mileage. Milemeter would be an example of the former, and Progressive's MyRate the latter. The Progressive MyRate program does NOT have GPS, and it's entirely voluntary.
ReplyDeleteAlso keep in mind that most vehicle manufacturers install Event Data Recorders in each vehicle-which are Federally mandated- which record vehicle speed, braking, throttle, etc., in split second intervals five seconds before impact, and five seconds after impact. Information from these boxes has largely been deemed as scientifically reliable, and thus widely admitted into evidence. Much can be determined from this information already.
I'd like to begin my reply by agreeing with jimbino that parts of my article, namely the title, are a bit alarmist. I'd also like to clarify, as I tried to do at the end of the article, that there are many benefits that PAYD insurance provides. First, why shouldn't technology put be to use so as to reward safe drivers? I think of myself as a safe driver. Why shouldn't I pay less for insurance? Second, there are the potential environmental benefits. And, last, is it necessarily a bad thing that evidence collected by GPS devices be used to convict a criminal?
ReplyDeleteHowever, jimbino and anon. @ 9:11 focus on programs such as Milemeter that don't require that GPS systems be installed. My focus is more on the proposed legislation in California. More than anything, perhaps, this is a slippery slope argument. As PAYD policies become more prevalent (which they surely will, especially as technology increases), I believe that the privacy concerns discussed in the article will come to the forefront. The benefits I point out are real, but as we venture down this slippery slope, I question whether the benefits are worth the decrease in privacy.
Do you not realize it is already totally legit for cops to put a gps tracker under your car and track your speed, location, and driving pattern? There is no expectation of privacy out on the road.
ReplyDeleteIf you can be tracked anyway, might as well save a buck.
You could achieve almost the same results as PAYD without any privacy concerns by going with a single-payer system, with premiums added as a gasoline tax. Drive more, pay more. Speeders burn more gas, and pay more. There are certainly valid objections to this kind of system -- it does nothing to penalize reckless drivers beyond any additional gas usage, for example -- but it addresses the major benefit of PAYD and eliminates the privacy concern.
ReplyDeleteTechnically true, 5:15, but that's something cops won't do in many instances before they are on to something. This technology allows them to figure something out after the fact.
ReplyDelete@ 5:15--
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily agree with the conclusion you seem to draw. It is true that the federal constitution does not prohibit the police from warrantlessly attaching tracking devices (e.g. beepers) to a motor vehicle, but tracking an individual's GPS device--which this seems most akin to--may be a different matter.
I think a strong argument can be made that it's not, but the issue remains unresolved as far as I recall. I do know that some state high courts have held the warrantless monitoring of personal GPS devices to be unconstitutional under state law. We blogged about such a holding by the New York Court of Appeals back in May; check out our posting here.
In any event, I don't read Josh's post to be suggesting that the constitution is somehow offended by PAYD--rather, he's saying it could lead to some troubling issues if the full scope of PAYD's possible implications are realized.
There are indeed important privacy issues, but if I am insuring your house against fire, do I not have a right to know what goes on in there, to some extent? Or if it's a business, the right to know what kind of business you are conducting?
ReplyDeleteAnd are Fast Track info not already available to the police in criminal investigations?
That said, I am also very worried about such info being collected, since the government can get a hold of it. That Milemeter seems a much better solution.
Another alternative is the model of Pay As You Drive car insurance in place in Australia- it offers affordable auto insurance for people who drive less, but without the privacy concerns. The company has no access to how or where you drive, and relies on the customer giving a starting odometer reading, and an odometer reading at claims time. You can read more about Pay As You Drive privacy concerns on the blog by the CEO of the Australian PAYD provider here: http://www.payasyoudrive.com.au
ReplyDeleteOne benefit of PAYD not mentioned here is what those reductions in premiums represent--a significant decrease in death, destruction and human suffering. Increasing the marginal cost of driving in general and reckless driving in particular has some pretty large public health benefits.
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Why is this scary? Someone electing for a PAYD policy would be voluntarily agreeing to the GPS tracking. How is that an invasion of privacy?
ReplyDeleteBc they may not have the chance to elect per this legislative plan. How come no one seems to get this?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea. It will make people safer drivers, something we can all benefit from. I don't see how there are any constitutionally-protected privacy issues where 1) it's voluntary, 2) it's a private company, not the government, and 3) the government could track you anyway because all your driving activities are in public, in plain view -- there's nothing stopping a cop from following you on the highway, why not save some taxpayer dollars and have a GPS do it instead.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be no current constitutional issues, if the California AMD only allowance were to result in a market where all insurance required invasive GPS then it becomes a different story. You then arguably have state action due to the mandatory requirement of auto insurance.
ReplyDeleteSome people do not even realize that they have it because it is bundled in the monthly payment. Home insurance is used to cover the home owner from damage as well as any possible law suits that may come because someone trips while on your property. From a fire to hurricane to a tornado and many things in between,
ReplyDeleteThe Allahabad insurance company is just like anywhere else in the country. Like anywhere else, it is required of anyone who has a loan on their home education car etc. For a lot of people it is automatically taken out of their monthly mortgage payment. Some people do not even realize that they have it because it is bundled in the monthly payment.
ReplyDeleteNow If you need insurance for your car you can get online through www.autoinsuranceplanners.com. The best way to get your car insured online.
ReplyDeleteNice post
ReplyDeleteWow. This is great as I usually drive very rare and the offer that I am getting are proving to me expensive. I wanted a plan that do charge according my driving habits. Thank you for sharing information about this plan else I have dropped the plan of getting an insurance policy.
ReplyDeleteI saw a TV show interviewing a guy thrown in jail for manslaughter after he failed to hit his brakes as fast as the jury thought he should. No doubt he thought he was a good driver too. The companies don't do this to give away money. Perhaps the discount is paid for in part by the savings from denied claims to customers convicted with the help of the insurance company's device? http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.8newsnow.com%2Fstory%2F13335323%2Foil-change-reignites-debate-over-gps-trackers&h=ececa
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