Texas Sues Allstate Over Its Collection of Driver Data
The State of Texas sued Allstate on Monday, accusing the insurer of illegally tracking drivers by way of their phones through a subsidiary called Arity that claimed to have the “world’s largest driving behavior database.” “Allstate and Arity paid mobile apps millions of dollars to install Allstate’s tracking software,” Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement. “The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law. Texans deserve better and we will hold all these companies accountable.” In a statement, Allstate denied that the company had done anything illegal. “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,” the company said. The New York Times reported last year that information about people’s driving behavior was being collected via smartphone apps, such as Life360 and GasBuddy, and sold to Arity, an analytics company founded by Allstate. Arity was able to analyze the data …