Auto insurers are increasingly monitoring the driving habits of consumers through telematics systems that use consumer-generated driving data to calculate auto insurance premiums. A new white paper released today by Consumer Federation of America looks at the potential benefits and problems of this new technology, and concludes that stronger consumer and privacy protection standards are needed to ensure that these programs actually benefit consumers. 

 In this paper, Watch Where You’re Going: What’s Needed to Make Auto Insurance Telematics Work for Consumers, CFA concludes that without effective oversight, telematics programs could result in unfair pricing, improper use of personal information, racial and ethnic discrimination, and data insecurity, among other concerns. We have distributed the paper to state insurance commissioners and to the Federal Insurance Office.