Did Hyundai Sell Your Driving Data to Insurance Companies?
There have been several reports of auto companies using location and driver behavior tracking data without the knowledge of car owners. The Lyon Firm is investigating Hyundai data tracking cases and other automaker data misuse claims on behalf of plaintiffs nationwide. Contact our legal team to learn more about the legal implications of illegal data tracking and how to file a class action data privacy lawsuit.
Our attorneys are seeking plaintiffs who owned or leased a Hyundai vehicle since 2020. Did your insurance premiums dramatically rise for no good reason once you started driving a Hyundai vehicle? If you had no traffic violations or any auto accidents but your auto insurance costs went up for no justified reason, you may have been a victim of unlawful auto data tracking.
Was Hyundai Tracking Your Driving Behavior?
According to recent reports published in the New York Times, automakers have been selling a range of data to insurance companies about the driving behavior of millions of consumers. In many cases, drivers were never informed that such technology was embedded in their vehicles, and never agreed to be tracked.
In the case of General Motors, affected drivers were not informed of this deceptive practice until months or years after insurance companies were provided with “consumer disclosure files” from LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, a couple of data brokers that work with the insurance industry.
Some of the data GM collected included data on separate trip distances, the start and end times of trips, how often drivers sped, and how often a driver hard-braked or quickly accelerated. Some later software tracked hard cornering, forward collision alerts, lane-departure warnings and seat belt reminders.
GM, Honda, Kia and Hyundai have all equipped their vehicles with onboard “features” that pose as beneficial apps but ultimately are capable of collecting information and sending that info to data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk.
GM has said that such data collection only occurred when consumers turned on their OnStar software, a connected services plan, and enrolled in Smart Driver. But some consumers say they never enrolled in these programs and never agreed to any driver behavior data tracking experiment. In fact, the GM vehicles are equipped with Connected Access, which allowed the company to send software updates to the car and collect data.
Years ago, major automakers allegedly made a deal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide “clear, meaningful and prominent” notice about the collection of driver behavior information. However, this conversation did not take into account that at the point of sale, car salespeople work in a position where they have a clear incentive to sign customers up for these programs without realizing the consequences. Many salespeople may not have been aware of the privacy violations, and could never have properly explained to consumers what was at risk.
Can You Join a Hyundai Data Tracking Class Action?
At least ten federal class action data misuse lawsuits have been filed by drivers who claim they never signed up to be spied upon. GM has since stopped sharing data with LexisNexis and Verisk and discontinued their Smart Driver product, but only after significant legal backlash and bad press.
Powered by Blue Link, Hyundai teamed up with Verisk Data Exchange to provide insurers with the data they need to determine the auto insurance rate for a specific driver. The company stated that this program has always been optional.
But in the cases of consumers who purchased Hyundai cars, some of those who chose not to participate in the Blue Link tracking program found that their vehicles were still accessing the onboard software and sending data to Verisk. Some plaintiffs have alleged that the automaker’s dedicated web page where you could manage your data privacy and opt out of having your personal data sold to third parties was not working.
If you believe Hyundai or another automaker has engaged in a deceptive data tracking program, or has illegally sent your driving behavior data to data brokers and insurance companies, contact our data privacy attorneys to investigate. The Lyon Firm is currently involved in numerous data privacy and data misuse lawsuits. We represent clients in all fifty states and offer free and confidential consultations.