OnStar and an insurance company called Progressive recently announced the latest developments in creepy connected driving. Available soon on certain GM vehicles, OnStar will be able to track and record your driving behaviour and then share that information with Progressive, who may (or may not) offer you a discount based on your driving.
From the Detroit News:
General Motors Co.’s OnStar subsidiary will offer motorists a new service this summer that gives feedback on their driving skills and allows some to seek driving-based discounts from Progressive insurance.
OnStar, which provides emergency, security and embedded Wi-Fi connectivity services to 7 million subscribers in North America and China, will allow U.S. customers to enroll in a driving assessment. After 90 days, OnStar technology that connects with the vehicle will tell customers how they performed in certain driving metrics, comparing them against an aggregate of other enrolled customers and offering individualized driving tips.
It’s tempting to put on my anti-GM hat and damn them for being evil overseers, but GM are just one of many. The ‘connected car’ is on its way. GM are just a little ahead of the pack.
Google have had their self-driving vehicles in testing for years. Audi sent an automated, self-driving A7 from San Francisco to Las Vegas earlier today and they say they could potentially launch a self-driving model as early as next year. Volvo are working feverishly on cars that will be able to talk to one another about road hazards.
Doesn’t it feel a little creepy, though?
The idea of having Mr OnStar looking over your shoulder like a silent back-seat driver is not at all appealing. The idea of getting driving tips from Mr OnStar, who can’t see the wandering pedestrian or the panicking pet dog that caused you to swerve is a little annoying. The idea of an insurance company using this information to categorise you is more than just a little bit Orwellian.
How long until this is standard and they use it against you?
How long will it take for some company to sell your driving information to Mr Google, who then plasters your regular routes with targeted advertising via electronic billboards as you approach them? I love Alfa Romeos, but I don’t want to see ads that focus on my likes EVERYWHERE I GO.
It’s creepy.
Sadly, it seems inevitable.
Again, from the Detroit News:
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says usage-based insurance is set for rapid growth in the U.S. It cites experts that predict up to 20 percent of U.S. vehicle insurance will use some type of usage-based metrics within five years.
It gets pitched as providing a service to the customer. In this case, the bait is an insurance discount. Of course, it’s really all about opening up new revenue streams.
GM has said it sees many opportunities to boost revenue through connected vehicles by working with other companies in areas such as helping customers access fuel, parking, travel or hotel information. Some industry analysts see OnStar as a revenue boon for GM. In 2013, IHS Automotive estimated 4G LTE could add $400 million gross profit to GM by mid-decade.
As with Facebook, you can be offered products as you use it but in reality, you are the product.
I’m not one of the tinfoil hat brigade, but I do enjoy the comfort and character of older cars. The fact that they’re free of most of this electronic tomfoolery is just a bonus.
Fair to say that if this is implemented in any vehicle I may drive in the future that my premium will be massive. Especially if I drive to Strathgordon again. That road whilst rough in sections is just made to be driven very progressively.
Progressive has offered this for sometime in the DC area using a widget you attach to your car. The only new difference is that they are using the built in GPS of on star this time.
Let’s see….. GM does the tie up not particularly because it has any interest in making you a safer (slower) driver, but because it sees healthy profits in flogging the data.
Progressive doesn’t really have any interest in lowering your premiums ( why would they do that?! ) They will tell you that them having this info will enable you to lower your premiums, but statistically, they know that most people simply don’t drive below the speed limit at 100 percent of the time, so they will be able to jack up your insurance rate at will.
And when they jack it up ( instantly) you can bet it will take 90 days, or longer, for you to prove yourself a good driver, and the rate to drop back down again.
This will make car insurance more expensive, not less. If for no reason other than someone has to pay GM for the data.
Orwellian capitalism at its finest!
The device plugs into the ODB II port so it can get access to the “black box” in modern cars that is tracking braking, acceleration, etc. Here in North Carolina (US) this has been advertised in radio ads for Progressive insurance for a few months. I don’t plan to get it even if my insurance company offers something similar. Even though I have a very safe driving record, I still do not like the concept on principle.
The discount wasn’t that high anyway
I’ve always loved technology. Not so much anymore. Being optional is just their means of getting a foot in the door. It won’t be long before some bribed politician starts pushing to make this madatory, ostensibly for the cause of safety. It reall is Orwellian, and very disheartening.
I head a talk at the Motor Press Guild by and assistant transportation Secretary about self guided cars……it was truly creepy, like driving a car was no fun. This guy was so fat he could not fit into any decent car and was probably in limos most of the time anyway. He sort of assumed that a room full of automotive journalists would be interested in a car driving itself! WRONG!!
But was scary that we are spending USA tax dollars studying this stuff.
PROGRESSIVE insurance is owned by a self avowed politically progressive chap. Study up on Progressive-ism and it will scare the heck out of you. They truly want the nanny state…..very very left wing. It does not surprised me that they want to see how you are driving!
In the U.S. Congress, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party,
Maybe if your driving record is too bad they will sentence you to driving a self driving car, and your can pay PROGRESSIVE insurance for the driving and the insurance!!!
This is The Matrix. There’s a movie about it.
This is why privacy laws are crucial. The technology isn’t the problem. Heck, the companies aren’t even the problem…they’re just doing what they’re supposed to do…make money.
The problem is that our governments aren’t doing enough to protect us, and that’s a problem.
I never got to rant about ON STAR itself!
Of course our USA Saabs came with ON STAR. I used the trial subscription for a few months on our 2001 95 Aero.
The monthly pricing was very high, and I had multiple phones on the same cellular provider and I would have to get another account. So I opted out.
We have been carrying all that hardware for years. Funny thing is they switched to digital in 2005 or so, so all of our analog ON STAR hardware is hopelessly obsolete and we are carrying it in the rear of our wonderful 95s for all these years. Even if we want to use it, there is no system or infrastructure to support it.
We also have that lovely “Sharfin” antenna on our roofs over here to remind us of the ON STAR equipment we are carrying around.
My “new” daily driver, the Audi A8L, is equipped with OnStar. I was shocked to see that.
As has been said above, Progressive has been advertising a ‘snapshot’ discount for driving with an OBDII reporting mechanism installed (perhaps temporarily for an initial measurement as the name implies). I’ve also heard as reported above that the discount offered isn’t that good. That leads me to believe that the real reason is to penalize others. I don’t do business with Progressive for many reasons other than that, but that alone is a good reason.