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ARE YOU UNKNOWINGLY SHARING YOUR DRIVING HABITS WITH INSURERS?

If you’re buying a car, you should make sure you are not inadvertently sharing driving information that may affect your insurance rates, the Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) advises.

Certain vehicles equipped with electronic features such as GPS or emergency services connectivity may enable your driving data to be collected and sold to third parties, including insurance companies, and consumers may not realize they have approved this. According to recent reports, this may affect consumers purchasing a vehicle with these features or who download vehicle-related apps.

What You Need to Know:

• When you purchase a newer vehicle with electronic features, it's possible that the terms of your purchase agreement may allow for the automatic enrollment in a data collection program operated by the vehicle manufacturer. These programs track various aspects of your driving behavior, including speed, braking, and acceleration. This information may be shared with third parties, including insurers.
• In addition, if you download an app provided by the vehicle manufacturer, you may be agreeing to allow the manufacturer to collect and sell your driving data.
• If the data collected is sold to insurers by the vehicle manufacturer, the data may be used to determine risks associated with your driving behavior and the insurance premium you will pay. This type of data collection could have a positive or negative effect on your eligibility for coverage and the insurance premium amount you will pay.
• Connecticut insurance law requires insurers to disclose the specific reasons for any negative effect on your eligibility for coverage or increase in premiums. Insurers are also required to disclose the insurer’s information practices.

What You Can Do to Prevent the Sharing of Your Driving Data:

• Before purchasing a vehicle or downloading any vehicle-related apps, carefully review the terms and conditions of the sale or use and privacy policies of car manufacturers and app developers. Look for information about data collection, sharing practices, and opt-out options.
• Also consider contacting your auto dealer or the vehicle’s manufacturer to discuss options for opting out of data collection programs if you are not interested.
• Periodically review the settings and configurations of your vehicle's infotainment system, telematics features, and connected services. Disable any features or permissions that you're uncomfortable with to help reduce the amount of data transmitted.

What You Can Do to Determine if Your Driving Data is Shared:

• Privacy4Cars is an organization that can tell you if your car is capable of collecting data. Click here to see what information your car collects.
• You can also request a report from LexisNexis that includes your driving data that has been collected. Click here to request your report.

In today’s digital age, it is important to stay informed and take proactive steps to understand how and when your information may be collected and shared and what opt-out options you may have.