Allstate Drivewise?
 

Recently got an email from my insurance company for a program called the Drivewise program. They send you a device that you plug into a ODBII port and it records the miles you drive per day, the speed, and events such as hard braking hard cornering etc, and wireless uploads the data to the insurance company. They claim they can give you discounts on your premium rates if you enroll in this program and have safe driving habbits, though some of the restrictions are a little deep. I live in NYC and usually stay out at nights, not even to party but just out with friends until 4-5AM. It says you will receive a greater discount for not driving between the hours of 11PM-5AM. (WTF?).

At first I thought this was a good idea to reduce my rates, but then I saw some of the restrictions and terms. They may use the information in a legal dispute, and 3rd parties will have access to the information whether you life it or not. Some of the other terms made it start to seem like it was entering the realm of privacy invasion.. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with this before I started plugging this adapter in.

Don't feed the pigs! I tried this once and never again.

any insight as to why?

After a short period of time (less than a few weeks on the car), I asked the insurance co about whether they would ever use the data to *increase* my rates. At that time, they would not confirm or deny. I would rather pay extra than have someone track how I drive and potentially use that info with "affiliates".

This was almost 3-4 years ago on a diff car. It was cutting edge.

I think the idea here is that they want to make these devices the new norm, getting people used to them (so that the rates they get today would only be valid with this device). These things have cellular chips built into them and they upload the data to their servers. One day, I predict (IMO) that you will get worse rates than you have today, unless you opt for the device.

Stage 2 (OBD3?) may force integration of these devices into the ECU. The power is with the people to prevent this.. (Note: I am well aware of the black box that we already have.. Just no cellular *yet*.)

Run forest run...don't do it.

This is just a ploy by the insurance companies to get a bunch of people using this invasive tracker so they can go lobby the government to make this a mantatory requirement to get car insurance. They will claim they can lower customers rates and improve safety. Bull$hit...they just want to track you so they have excuses to raise rates and deny coverage in certain cases.

The more people who sign up for this, the more the insurance industry will try to make this mandatory for rest of us.

Send it back.

Nobody has to LOBBY government when they OWN government.

Financial control = Slavery .. and we are all being herded whether you like it or not. The proof is in the warnings of past great men..

Agreed. And those who willingly sign up for this scam are the sheeps leading us to the slaughter house.

These things have/will have SoC's built into them with accelerometers, GPS, cellular and GOD knows what other IC's or integration. None of this benefits you as the driver.

The purpose of the corporation (sole purpose) is to increase profits for its stakeholders at any/anybody's expense. This device is meant to increase profit by taking advantage of the human being's animalistic nature. They know you will drive aggressively, forgot to slow down, brake hard, experience road rage, etc. They are counting on it to happen (calculated behavior actually), with the punishment being higher rates for you. The only winners are the stakeholders in increased profits. This system is designed to fuck the consumer.

EXACTLY!

Thank you.

What is voluntary today will become “mandatory” tomorrow.

Once these monitoring devices become the “new normal,” those who decline to submit to this sacrifice of privacy and freedom, this tyranny, will be “given the option” of insuring at an astronomical rate, or having no insurance at all.

Only an utter fool would see it otherwise. By the time the fools awaken, it will be too late.


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“If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will Lose its freedom and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too.”
- W. Somerset Maugham (English novelist, 1874-1965)

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What happens when you go to a track day / AutoX? I have probably never gone over 45mph at an autocross, but you still are full on the brakes and gas the whole time. That's my big question....

Back then (3-4 years ago), when I asked the insurance co what happens if I go to a track/racing, they had no feedback on that. I was being stonewalled. I went around my own question by asking if I could just pull the device out of the OBD2 port whenever I wanted. The rep immediately became defensive and told me that if you pull the device out for any "significant" period of time, it invalidates your "potential rate savings". It tracks how long it has been on the car. If you pull it out, they assume you are up to no good. Edit: Btw, the OBD2 port still has power even when the ignition is off.

If this isn't control on the finest of scales, I don't know what is. LOL.

And your big answer is that your rates will go up dramatically.

The GPS will know your location and exactly what you were doing. And the best part is that you original policy terms will give them the right to change the rate of the policy based on the tracking data. Thier internal software will immediately email you the next day letting you know that your monthly premium has increased, without requiring additional human capital on thier end = high profits indeed!

This is a case of the spider inviting the fly into his web. Do not go there.