The state of Texas sued Allstate on Monday, accusing the insurance company of illegally tracking drivers by cell phone through a subsidiary called Arity, which claims 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 want to protect all these companies. We will hold them 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 is collected through smartphone apps like Life360 and GasBuddy and sold to Allstate, an analytics company founded by Allstate. By analyzing data collected from people's smartphones, Arity was able to determine how often they speed, brake hard, or are distracted by their smartphones while driving. That analysis was used to give a driving risk score.
According to the attorney general's lawsuit, which accuses the company of violating state privacy laws, “insurance companies use their consumers' data to justify increases in auto insurance premiums, denial of coverage, exclusion of coverage, etc.” “It has become a reality.”
According to a state lawsuit filed in Montgomery County District Court, Arity has location, movement, and driving data on more than 45 million Americans, but they say they have “nothing at all” about their continued collection and sale of the data. He was neither informed nor consented to it.”
Texas sued General Motors last year over the collection of consumer driving data, following a Times report that said GM and other automakers were selling information about people's driving to the insurance industry. .
