Big Brother Is Now Your Backseat Driver and Co-Pilot

Some Drivers Learn That App-Based Big Brother Is Ratting Them Out 

We wrote earlier about a voluntary program that reports driving habits to insurance companies. (Details are here.)

These are insured drivers, which is an important distinction since those driving illegally bypass this sort of nuisance.

These drivers install an app on their phone that lets them participate in the program we call "Mobile Mother-in-Law."

It’s their very own personal backseat driver without the door-grabbing and imaginary braking.

Program participants install the app and it monitors where you drive, when you drive, and how fast you drive.

From what we can tell the app monitors everything but how often you honk the horn and how loud you play the radio.

Then the insurance company analyzes the data and if you obey the speed limit and don’t hit your brakes before using the turn signal, the insurer will give you a discount on your premium.

So far everything is voluntary and above board.

Now The New York Times spills the beans on an undercover informant program that rats out "aggressive drivers" to insurance companies without their knowledge.

As a result, their insurance premiums go up even if the drivers haven’t had an accident or received a ticket.

It’s guilt without going through the justice system.

General Motors owns a subscription service called OnStar Smart Driver.

According to GM: "The program scores drivers using the OnStar Smart Driver score. The better one drives, the higher their score. Enrollees can compare their scores to those of other drivers enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver on an anonymous basis."

So far it sounds like playing "Grand Theft Auto" in your car without the unfortunate criminality and sexual assault connotations.

What the drivers interviewed by the Times said they didn’t know was their Smart Driver score was reported to Lexis/Nexis and insurance companies used the data to raise their insurance rates.

Kenn Dahl is a businessman in Seattle and he discovered to his shock that Smart Driver informed on him to the tune of a 258-page report!

He complained to the Times that the novel-sized report resulted in a 21% jump in his car insurance premium. "Dahl said that his insurance agent told him the price increase was based on data collected by LexisNexis, which compiled a report tracking each and every time he and his wife drove their Chevy Bolt over a six-month period."

What we found ironically funny was this "dangerous" driving took place in a Chevy Bolt, of all cars! That’s a lower–priced electron burner for people who can’t afford a Tesla.

Dahl didn’t even have the pleasure of hearing the exhaust roar as he sped along the highway.

The Times’ story also included a Cadillac driver who lives in Florida.

He wishes his penalty after being ratted out was only a boost in insurance rates.

This guilty-until-proven-owner can’t buy car insurance now.

He’s been denied coverage by a total of seven companies.

He complains, "I don’t know the definition of hard brake. My passenger’s head isn’t hitting the dash." Which sounds a little like the old pilot’s saying: "Any landing you walk away from is a good one."

Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, Kia and Hyundai all have the same technology but these manufacturers say drivers have to opt in to the reporting program.

Ford also says drivers must give "explicit consent" before driving data is shared.

GM claims the Smart Driver data is not shared without permission from the driver, but the program participants the Times interviewed all claim they didn’t give sharing permission.

Regardless, the blowback from rising car insurance premiums caused by Smart Driver data has been so severe that GM discontinued the program entirely.

The moral to this story is clear. Technology isn't always your friend.

And any app that gathers data secretly or otherwise has the potential to turn on you.

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.

Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.