Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile

    Car-Tracking Device Trades Privacy for Dollars

    By
    Guy Kewney
    -
    August 18, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Imagine this. Youre driving around in your HOV (highly ostentatious vehicle), and you follow your normal route home.

      The next day, you are notified by your insurance company: “Under the terms of Court Order 34/FKC/34 paragraph 12 subsection iii, your auto insurance is void.”

      It turns out that you drove within a mile of the house belonging to your ex-spouse, which violates the terms of a court order. As a result, your auto insurance, which was offered under advantageous terms on the grounds that you had a clean record, no longer applies.

      Well, yes, it could happen. Actually, I cant see how it could fail to happen. All insurance is offered on an “utmost good faith” basis, whereby failing to disclose any factor that might invalidate it will indeed invalidate it—even if, had you asked, theyd have decided it didnt count. Its the failure to disclose that is the problem.

      And who, in a nutshell, disclosed?

      Well, under the terms of your insurance, you got even better terms by agreeing to avoid high-risk areas. Because most of your mileage is done on turnpikes and you keep the vehicle in a garage in a low-crime suburb, your premiums are very low compared with the driver who parks by the curb in a high-crime neighborhood.

      And they know youre doing this because you agreed to a monitor—a location-based device that uses GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)/GPS (Global Positioning System) wireless. In return for avoiding known high-risk areas, your premiums are cut.

      Last month, Id have described this as a slightly implausible plot for a futuristic B-movie. This month, I have to report that a British insurance company has installed a couple of hundred prototype monitors in vehicles with the carrot that the drivers will “save thousands” on insurance policies.

      /zimages/5/28571.gifThe debate over e-mail privacy is heading to Congress. Click here to read more.

      The device is, quite simply, a mobile phone that tracks where you drive and phones home to tell your insurance company. It will know whether you exceeded the speed limit, wont it? Yes, it will. It will know not only how long it takes to get from point A to point B, but which streets you drove on, which red lights you stopped at (and for how long) and, indeed, how fast you traveled.

      The suggestion that you can “save thousands” sounds as spurious as any such blandishment from any insurance company, frankly. The difference between a high and a low premium is rarely going to amount to more than a few dozen dollars each year. Youd have to drive to the moon and back several times to save even $1,000.

      But thats not the really worrying thing, is it? The worrying thing, for me, is that yet another system is offering to reduce your privacy for the sake of a handful of dollars.

      Of course, it is all “voluntary” at the moment. The insurance company piloting this only disclosed the project under strict anonymity conditions, and I dont have any reason to believe that they are insincere. On the other hand, where the carrot doesnt tempt, the stick will drive us onward. Ill wager quite a lot that within two years of this pilot becoming accepted practice, the penalty for refusing it will be high.

      A wireless, electronic marvel, magic technology—and a trap for the unwary. You think youre playing with physics, and suddenly you find youre toying with social engineering …

      /zimages/5/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms Mobile & Wireless Center at http://wireless.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews and analysis.

      /zimages/5/77042.gif

      Be sure to add our eWEEK.com mobile and wireless news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page

      Guy Kewney

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×