Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Allstate, accusing the insurance giant of unlawfully tracking drivers’ movements via their mobile phones without consent and using that data to increase insurance premiums. The complaint, filed on Monday in a Texas state court near Houston, alleges that Allstate has built the “world’s largest driving behavior database,” containing information on over 45 million Americans.
According to Paxton, Allstate secretly paid app developers millions of dollars to embed tracking software into popular mobile applications, such as Fuel Rewards, GasBuddy, Life360, and Allstate’s own Routely. These apps were reportedly used to collect vast amounts of data on drivers’ locations and behaviors, which Allstate then used to justify raising car insurance rates or denying coverage altogether. The company also allegedly sold this data to other insurance providers for a profit.
The tracking software was reportedly developed starting in 2015 by Allstate’s data analytics division, Arity. Additionally, Texas claims Allstate began purchasing direct data from automobile manufacturers, such as Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, and Stellantis, to more accurately pinpoint when drivers were on the road—not just relying on mobile phone location data.
The lawsuit accuses Allstate of violating several Texas laws, including those concerning data privacy, unfair trade practices, and regulations governing data brokers. Paxton is seeking restitution for affected consumers, civil fines up to $10,000 per violation, and the destruction of any illegally collected data.
This legal action follows a similar lawsuit filed last year against General Motors, which allegedly installed tracking technology on millions of vehicles, collecting and selling driver data without consent.
As of now, Allstate has not responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
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