3 Apps Secretly Tracking Your Driving and Raising Your Insurance Costs

Key Points

• Apps like Life360, MyRadar, and GasBuddy share driving data with insurers, raising rates.
• Life360 and MyRadar users can opt out of data selling in app settings.
• GasBuddy users should check privacy settings to avoid sharing data.
• Save money on car insurance by protecting your driving data.

No one likes paying more for car insurance than is necessary. It's why financially savvy car owners will compare auto insurance rates to ensure that they score a better deal. However, in this day and age, insurance rates are sometimes determined by more than just car insurance policies.

According to the New York Times, there are some smartphone apps that secretly track how their users drive, and then sell that data to insurance companies, who then use it to raise their clients' insurance rates. As alarming as this may be, it is still possible for concerned drivers to protect their privacy and keep their insurance rates lower by not allowing these apps to track them.

Here are three apps that are tracking drivers' data and selling it to insurance companies, and how to prevent this from happening.

Life360

Many parents are likely familiar with the smartphone app Life360, which they can use to track their children when they get behind the wheel. The applicant can notify them if their teenage son or daughter is in a car accident, for example. But in order for the Life360 app to send out that notification, users have to opt into a driving analysis feature that takes motion and sensor data from their phones.

This feature comes from an analytics company, Arity, which the Allstate insurance company founded in 2016. If users have opted in to the app's driving analysis feature, Arity will sell the data it has gathered on them to Allstate, which will use it to determine insurance prices. Drivers who do not wish for their data to be shared by Arity can select the "Do not sell my personal information" option in the app.

MyRadar

The MyRadar app allows its users to get weather forecasts. Arity can track and share a user's data through their smartphone in the same manner that they do with the Life360 app.

Drivers who use the MyRadar app and do not wish for their data to be shared or sold by Arity can select the "Do not sell my personal information" option.

GasBuddy

The GasBuddy app can help drivers save at the pump by activating a feature that analyzes and rates their fuel efficiency as they drive. It can also suggest more fuel-efficient routes for drivers to take when they are on the road.

In order to access these features, GasBuddy users must agree to Arity's privacy statement, which includes opting into the "Drives function."

That agreement, which per the New York Times, is in small gray font underneath a large red button that users click to "Join Drives." Once users click that button, they have consented to share "certain information" with Arity, although there is no explanation as to what Arity is or does.

Drivers who want to protect their personal information or data while using the GasBuddy app should carefully go over the privacy settings on their vehicle's dashboard system, as well as in the app's settings menu, to make sure that they have not unintentionally consented to their data being shared or sold.

Bottom line

Arity, which uses all the data it collects from smartphone apps to create a "driving score" that it can sell to auto insurance companies, has already sold this data, and its associated driving scores for tens of millions of people, according to the New York Times.

It would be one of the best money moves for car owners who are worried about their insurance rates to make sure that their data and privacy are protected. They should make sure that they have not unintentionally consented to allowing any apps they use while driving to share and sell the data about their driving habits.