Better To Drive A Simple Car To Save On Insurance Rates And Data Breach
Will this trend in data collection arrive in Malaysia as insurance companies push for more safer drivers
According to a recent news report from North America, a 65-year-old careful driver was shocked when his car insurance increased by 21 percent despite his clean driving record.
He discovered that LexisNexis, a data broker, had compiled a detailed report on his driving habits, obtained from his Chevrolet Bolt’s manufacturer, General Motors (GM).
This report included specifics of every trip taken over six months, such as distance, time, and driving behavior like speeding and hard braking. This data was analyzed to create risk scores for insurers.
Apparently, General Motors is not the only automaker doing this. Kia and Subaru have also participated in the LexisNexis “Telematics Exchange,” a platform designed for sharing connected car data approved by consumers with insurance companies.
Additionally, Verisk, another analytics & risk assessment firm also claims that it has access to data from millions of vehicles and collaborations with major automakers such as Ford, Honda, and Hyundai.
So, if your driving data can be accessed, could hackers potentially take advantage of this?
Well, McGallen and Bolden have shared this information with us. It seems that hackers gaining access to various type of data from these vehicles can use it for different purposes.
For example, location data can be used to track individuals. Personal information such as name, address, phone numbers, as well as credit card information from vehicles could be extracted and sold or misused.
Audio data collected by microphones in vehicles could be extracted and used to learn about secret or sensitive information from a conversation in the vehicle, like passwords and personal information to take advantage of drivers.
Additionally, image data from cameras in vehicles could be extracted to learn about secret or sensitive information at certain locations. For example, this is one reason certain vehicles installed with cameras are banned from entering military sites.
Add to the fact that a modern vehicle is effectively a small data-centre on wheels. The data from each of the dozens of computers in that vehicle is used to optimise the driver experience, perform safety functions, and potentially support usage monitoring.
That data might be shared with the vehicle owner, but also with the manufacturer or usage monitoring company such as an insurance company. With all this data available, and it being shared with multiple stakeholders, it’s imperative that proper security measures be designed in and not bolted on after the fact.
After all, if someone has legitimate access to data, if that data isn’t properly secured, the it’s only a matter of time before malicious actors gain access to it. Importantly, while that vehicle is a mini datacenter, it doesn’t benefit from all the network and deployment protections a modern data-centre uses to protect data
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