Ford – along with a host of other companies from various sectors – has faced its fair share of questions lately regarding how it collects and manages consumer data, as well as legal challenges. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently admitted that the topic of data sharing and privacy are major sources of tension between the company and consumers, and that was before a recent report shed some alarming light on how one of its rivals – General Motors – is facing major backlash after some of its customers unknowingly signed up for a service that resulted in their driving data being shared with insurance companies, leading to increased premiums. Though Ford made it quite clear that it isn’t sharing any consumer data without consent, speculation has since run rampant on the internet – as it usually does – which prompted the automaker to issue a statement that was recently posted in the F-150 Lightning subreddit at Reddit.
“Ford hasn’t sold or shared any connected vehicle data to LexisNexis (or Verisk),” the automaker said in its statement. “While Ford announced exploratory partnerships with them, we haven’t launched anything. It’s up to you whether to share vehicle data with your insurer if you decide to seek a usage-based insurance policy. To become enrolled, you must both opt-in with your own insurance company, and AGAIN through a separate consent screen on your vehicle’s interface.”
“When your Ford vehicle setting for ‘Insurance-Related Data’ is greyed out or displays a lock sign, it means that the setting is in its default position ‘off’ and Ford is not sharing your vehicle data with an insurance company. That setting will ONLY get turned ‘on’ if you enroll in a usage-based insurance program and with your explicit consent. If an insurance company or data exchange service has data about your driving behavior without your explicit consent, it did not come from Ford. There are several other ways, such as through phone apps unrelated to Ford, where information about your driving behavior (especially hard accelerations and hard braking that can be calculated through a cell phone’s GPS data) can be made available to insurers.”
As Ford Authority previously reported, GM has come under fire not only for being a bit vague in terms of how it informs customers that their data is being collected and used, but also, salespeople at various dealerships have reportedly opted customers in to a feature called OnStar Smart Driver without their consent or knowledge. This feature tracks a user’s driving habits and then transmits that data to LexisNexis, which it then uses to help insurance companies determine rates based on a driver’s risk score for usage-based insurance plans.
We’ll have more on automaker privacy practices soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet