An Allstate customer has filed a class-action lawsuit against the insurance provider, demanding that it pay up for collecting people’s driving-related data through third-party mobile apps.
The lawsuit was filed a day after Texas sued Allstate over the same claims, accusing the insurance company of covertly harvesting the information to justify car insurance price increases.
Attorneys at Morgan & Morgan and Clifford Law Offices, which filed the complaint, say they “are fighting on behalf of our clients to put a stop to this purportedly improper data collection and hold Allstate accountable for its alleged surveillance and invasion of privacy.”
The class-action lawsuit was filed in Illinois, where Allstate is based, and is similar to Texas’s complaint. The plaintiff is a Georgia resident and Allstate Insurance client named Demetric Sims. He alleges that Allstate invaded his privacy because the company allegedly collected his driving data through the third-party app, SiriusXM. That’s because the app appears to forward such data to an Allstate subsidiary called Arity, according to an official website about how car insurers can use the company’s software for customer tracking.
(Credit: Arity)
“Defendants integrated Arity SDK into widely popular apps, such as: Routely, Life360, GasBuddy, Sirius XM, and Fuel Rewards,” the complaint adds. “Once an app integrated the Arity SDK, the user was unwittingly enabling Defendants to collect the Driving Data via the Arity SDK.”
However, the class-action lawsuit claims the data collection occurred without explicit consent from users. “Insurers then secretly used that consumer’s data to justify increasing their car insurance premiums, denying them coverage, or dropping them from coverage,” the complaint adds, which is also demanding Allstate end the data-collection practice.
If a judge rules in its favor, the class-action lawsuit could lead to compensation for millions of Americans since Arity has collected data on over 45 million consumers. The Texas lawsuit is also urging the court to award restitution.
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Allstate didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But on Monday, the company pushed back against the Texas attorney general’s lawsuit. “Arity helps consumers get the most accurate auto insurance price after they consent in a simple and transparent way that fully complies with all laws and regulations,” Allstate told PCMag.
According to Arity’s site, the company gets consent after consumers click on ads about using their data to receive personalized insurance rates. SiriusXM also denied harvesting user information for third-parties. “SiriusXM audio services, including the SiriusXM app, do not collect, share or sell precise geolocation data to any third party. Additionally, the Arity SDK is not integrated into the SiriusXM app,” the company said.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
