The Discovery that These Three Apps Spy on You, Record Your Driving Habits, and Sell them to Insurance Companies

We are aware that many apps spy on us, and in some cases, this spying has a direct impact on our wallets. Many driving-related apps record driving habits and sell them to insurance companies.

An investigation conducted by The New York Times discovered many apps, some directly related to driving, that use GPS, gyroscopes, and motion sensors on your mobile phone to record your driving behavior.

The newspaper talks about apps like Life360, MyRadar, GasBuddy. The Life360 app provides recommendations and locations focused on family during driving, while the MyRadar app warns of storms and possible rain during your trip. The GasBuddy app finds the cheapest fuel stations. But there is much more.

The common denominator among them all is that they offer an option to collect your driving habits. However, they either don’t mention the reason, or hide that you are agreeing to this data collection, or link it to a feature such as driving tips for fuel savings.

According to an investigation by The New York Times, most of these apps are supported by the marketing company Arity. Arity tracks driving habits, creates categories of drivers, and sells the data to insurance companies, who can then send targeted ads with offers to attract good drivers who they care about as customers. At the same time, they ignore those who have received poor scores.

In some cases, these apps impose a subscription fee for their services, thus making money twice: through the subscription, and through selling drivers’ data to insurance companies. The latter, without the customer getting anything in return, and without even being aware of it.

If you use driving-related apps, be cautious about the contracts and terms you agree to. They can sell your driving habits to insurance companies, leading to increased prices.