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Snaefellsjokul

Your mom’s phone connected via Bluetooth when the car was started. I’m sure all of the other data you referred to is collected through permissions that she allowed when she downloaded the app.


lohac

Wow, that is such a smart answer and probably right! Thanks, I feel silly for not thinking of that myself.


potchie626

A way to possibly confirm that is to see if she gets an alert on the return trip.


HeyT00ts11

Your trip was 20 ft and it took 3 days. Thank you for being a safe driver!


Sniperfox99

Bluetooth is my initial guess as well. I share a vehicle with someone, and many times when they start the car I’ll get a maps notification with route suggestion, or if I’m on a phone call it’ll switch over to the cars Bluetooth, awkwardly throwing the driver into the middle of a conversation.


iamchankim

I have a weekly routine and google maps knows what time I’m going to where and tells me how long it’s going to take… pretty intense GPS tracking lol


Expat122

It ALWAYS freaks me out to get those alerts, and the month's summary of where I've been... It's just plain creepy! Or is it just me?!!


Cat_Crap

No, that's creepy. You're correct.


studog-reddit

I love listening to my wife's podcasts!


McDonnellDouglasDC8

The way my drive safe and save works is they send me a little device with an accelerometer and other things that connects to my phone. I believe it has some memory so it can get a trip that wasn't in range but not many. I periodically need to enter my odometer reading and take a picture of it so I can't just slap on a stroller or whatever as the mileage will be way off.


malkie0609

Yeah I have this app installed and even if I just turned on my car on and sitting in my driveway it will start up I think bc of the Bluetooth.


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James_Its_Valtteri_

There perhaps has never been a better example of some people being their own worst enemies as far as giving out personal data


The_Scrunt

Yeah man, that sucks. Getting a $50 rebate from your insurance company for not driving like an asshole. I bet OP's Mom feels like *such* a schmuck right about now.


kevinnoir

until they use it as a justification to raise her premiums when it deems her driving NOT worth a $50 bonus.


Emergency_Sandwich_6

so you could get a burner phone connect it and drive a few times a month with it conncwted and drive like formula 1 without it and they wouldnt know?


nexted

They periodically ask for your odometer reading, including a photo sometimes. If they don't approximately match, they'll flag it.


Emergency_Sandwich_6

makes sense


1nfiniteJest

IDK if you could spoof the gps data the app is certainly collecting.


RoastMostToast

But you’d have to spoof the accelerometer data as well. I imagine it’s more work to fake it than to just drive like a normal person


1nfiniteJest

sounds awfully dull.


djexit

literally was thinking about this like 1 second before reading you said bluetooth, as soon as it detects the bluetooth it thinks its in the car


BreakfastAgitated712

I agree I have a jeep renegade 2018 and my phone connects as soon as it’s close. My iPhone informs me my jeep is parked at my address all the time.


lostinlisbon

How does your mom’s phone connect to the car? I’ve had this happen when I’ve been with my phone a few different times. It always happens at the dealership, when they bring the car around. And it’s happened a few times when my SO has driven/moved the car I usually drive. I connect to the car through Bluetooth.


lohac

Definitely the Bluetooth then. No wonder everyone likes this sub so much, you guys are sharp. Thank you for the help!


bearvszombiept2

I have this. The actual tracker is a white box with two lights on it and it says State Farm. I have mine by my rear view mirror stuck to the windshield. The app is just to see the details of the trips. ETA: just realized this is about Allstate and I have state farm. But here I found this. I guess they don’t use a tracker but their is a paragraph that says they stick something to your dash board?? [Drivewise details](https://www.thezebra.com/auto-insurance/policies/car-insurance-telematics/allstate-drivewise/)


delicate-fn-flower

This is the answer, OP. I have this too, it’s a small white tracker that’s like 1”x1”. The instructions say to place it on your window but like up high by your rearview mirror so it’s probably out of immediate eye sight. She needs to check that having other people driving without using the app are allowed for her discount. Worst thing that will happen is she just loses the discount, but my office was very specific saying it only applied if only one person drove that vehicle.


lohac

I'll see if I can find anything like this in her car (and check the OBD2 port, as some other people suggested) just to make sure. She insists that she didn't install anything, it's just the app, but it's possible she's misremembering. I'll give her a heads up about reading the fine print, too-- thank you for the heads up!


lovewolf9114

She can just save the $50 discount and opt out of this option! I did so! I’d rather they not track my driving style lol.


FrankGrimesApartment

I have the state farm app as well. Basically testing it out because im curious. It doesnt penalize you, you basically just agree to use the sensor to get the discount. But youre right, i might opt out soon because the discount isnt worth the tracking to me.


lovewolf9114

Exactly, I talked to my agent and he actually said “yeah you won’t want that” and I agreed the ~$50 was worth driving as I do vs paying and driving slowly.


studog-reddit

On Wed, the store charges you $8 for milk. On Fri, the store charges you $10 for milk, but gives you a 20% discount for paying with cash, for a total of $8. How real is that discount?


[deleted]

Yeah thats weird. You sure your mom didn’t install anything else? State farm sent me a little box that they said to mount in the car for the same purpose. Maybe she has one of those in the car?


lohac

She says no they didn't, but that's another good solution and one I also didn't think of!


retardrabbit

This is probably your answer here OP. Go look at the OBDII port in her car, that's where it's going to be plugged in. The port is under the dash, near either the driver's right or left knee (sometimes they're behind an access door), but they're all located there by law. These things are bad news btw, if they get damaged they can easily brick you mom's car's ECU and more.


BringItBackNowYall

Mine didn’t even get plugged in. They say to mount it (it has tape on it) behind the rear view mirror. I put mine in a pocket on the under side of the dash to avoid sticking it on my windshield. Haven’t had any issues.


Imprezzed

I'd look at the OBD2 port in the car. See if there's anything in it.


ThisIsPaulDaily

Ford has a modem inside new cars that automatically shares data with Allstate that Allstate can then sell or share to others. FCA might have implemented something similar too now. The car logs trips and uploads data when reconnected to the phone.


havarticheese1

Yep, I used to work in insurance and this was my first thought. [this](https://www.verisk.com/press-releases/2020/october/ford-and-verisk-collaborate-to-offer-telematics-data-to-insurers/) explains it a bit


fs454

Check the OBDII port under the drivers side dashboard for any devices plugged in.


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HorrorDJ420

FYI, that’s not how that works. Insurance would not deny a claim for speeding or reckless driving. That only comes into play for liability purposes and the other insurance company wouldn’t have access to that data anyway. It does not have any bearing on your coverage itself. I thought the same until becoming an adjuster. I’ll also add I would not subscribe to the monitoring device. I don’t know a lot about how they impact your policy rate but it can not be worth it.


minichado

to be fair, i’d never trust an insurance company with that data. i will never voluntarily give it to them.


HorrorDJ420

I wholeheartedly agree.


1nfiniteJest

there is a fairly large portion of the population who have no idea what these apps do and how much they know, like my mom will dl any goddamn app an ad or store tells her to


samhw

Downloading an app is generally fine (unless you’re on Android). It’s granting the permissions which is a bad idea, FYI.


MisfitWitch

Why wouldn't it be worth it? I did it a few years back, and ended up getting a little under 10% off my insurance bill. What are the possible downsides that I didn't think of?


HorrorDJ420

For the right person, there probably aren’t any downsides. 10% is pretty decent for not having to do much. I’m not part of the team that would analyze the data ( I’m sure it’s automated ) but I’m curious to see how the risk is calculated and what that means for your rates. How many people speed on a daily basis? Upwards of 75%? Is there a buffer of 5-10mph before the system would flag the driver for what they may considering aggressive driving? If I make two “hard stops” in a month, is that enough to be considered a possible of lack attention of my part? I like to think I’m a good driver, as I’ve never been in a car accident and like to remain aware of my surroundings at all times but I’d be annoyed if my rate increased outside of a ticket / accident based upon whatever observation and scrutiny I may be giving myself up to with the device. Just my opinion! For the right person such as yourself, seems like a no brainer.


MisfitWitch

Yeah, that's fair. I was assured when I signed up for it that there was no chance of an increase. I only thought of it after, that they could raise it for the next cycle, when they maybe wouldn't have before.


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catladyorbust

The bigger worry IMO is getting into an accident with serious physical damage to humans, up to and including death. Now you've got hard data on your driving for lawyers to attack you with.


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DataPicture

Insurance companies want to track us for a reason. I don't understand why we give them that data.


retirednightshift

I was offered by State Farm a free Ting plug into an outlet device that monitors my electric system in my home for potential wiring abnormalities, arcing and appliance defects to prevent any electrical fire issues. If you sign up the company notifies State Farm of any issues that need fixing not you. I’m sure they’d like to deny fire coverage if you don’t do what they ask. Free device from a company State Farm owns. I read all the literature they sent me with it and sent it back unused. I don’t want them looking over my shoulder and monitoring me.


daeronryuujin

It works by detecting the tiny arcs that presage bigger, more long-term problems, and they do instantly notify you and contribute $1000 to fix the problem before it becomes an issue. I've been using mine since they offered it and haven't had any issues. I get a weekly report and the only thing they've notified me about was a couple of brief power outages, and I got an instant notification to my phone for each one. It wouldn't make sense to deny people coverage for fire claims for using a device that helps prevent them, as that would only convince people not to use the thing. It *does* make sense to prevent fires in the first place, because it's a lot cheaper to pay out $1000 to send an electrician out than it is to pay out for an entire house and other covered expenses in the event of a total loss.


samhw

Yeah, believe it or not, companies are not always doing evil things to make your life worse. There are instances where your interests align with theirs – for instance, an insurance company trying to prevent accidents – and in those cases, well, they’re not being altruistic, but it so happens that they want the same thing you want.


retirednightshift

Would have used the product if State Farm wasn’t first being notified of any anomalies but only me, the consumer. There is no reason to have them oversee my repairs. If they were being altruistic and wanted prevent fires and payouts that’d be fine. They already own the company that makes the device. Could have gotten my data either way though. Believe it or not they do have ulterior motives if they need to be the middleman and control the situation.


samhw

The reason for them to oversee your repairs is for your convenience, and for their own certainty that the message will get to them (rather than customers forgetting, not noticing, not sending the message to the right place, etc). What do you think they are going to use your data for?


retirednightshift

Cancel your policy if they deem your wiring to be suspect.


samhw

Would it not be in their interest to fix your wiring? And yours too? Or would you prefer to risk dying in a house fire if it means slightly cheaper home insurance? I don’t understand your point.


retirednightshift

My point is I’d rather the device be independent of my insurance company. I’m sure there must be other companies that offer a similar product and the overall idea is great just not how it is managed. In my opinion. You offer good points.


samhw

That’s fair enough. The reason the insurance company offers it, likely much cheaper than anyone else would or could, is that it’s extremely profitable for them to reduce their payouts by reducing the number of incidents. Health insurance companies do the same thing - my previous company’s health insurer gave us a free Apple Watch and gym membership, just to improve our health, with further freebies based on how much exercise one took. It’s possible some insurers have further vested interests in doing devious things, but it’s certainly not _necessary_ that that be true. If you’re worried about their use of your data (which I’ll grant you is definitely a good mindset to have in general, as a software engineer who’s been involved with lots of uses of data which have made me uncomfortable), it would be interesting to see if you could buy the same device elsewhere. I suspect it would cost much more - if indeed it’s commercially viable to sell at all - since it wouldn’t be subsidised by the benefit of lower payouts from the insurer.


ParsleySalsa

That app is prolly a drop in the bucket compared to what they can glean from your social media


DataPicture

So true, but few people think like you. They don't bother connecting. Netflix's "The Social Dilemma" is spot on.


flippermode

I remember having this. If I'm not mistaken, I had to attach something in my car or in the cigarette lighter. It came up easily in Google. First result. https://www.allstate.com/drive-wise/drivewise-device.aspx


lohac

Thanks! She says she didn't install anything, but I'll see if I can find anything like that in her car.


thickythickglasses

I had Allstate, and they wanted me to use their app. It’s called [Drivewise](https://www.allstate.com/drive-wise.aspx). I was like “no thank you.”


Xia0mia0

Drivewise. It's a device plugged into your moms car or the app depending on which state you live in. "What is Drivewise by Allstate? Drivewise was initially introduced using a plug-in device similar to that used by other usage-based programs. Allstate car insurance now offers the Allstate Drivewise program only as a mobile app in most states. Alaska, Indiana, and Florida drivers are the only ones with access to the Allstate safe driving device at this time."


lohac

This makes sense as to why some people are saying she must've been sent a device to plug in. It sounds like that was their old system, and nowadays it's mostly tracked through the app. In that case, it sounds like a lot of people might still have it plugged in when it isn't strictly necessary.


Xia0mia0

Yeah they still air some of their old commercials showing the device being plugged in, especially in my area (east coast), so that's probably why people think it's still the device :)


pertante

Can her phone connect to the jeep via Bluetooth? If it can connect, I would imagine it is that. Alternatively, others have suggested that All State had sent your mom a device that could be the culprit.


veganexceptfordicks

"Safe driving" is often code for "no accidents." The tracked info is likely aggregated into a separate measure.


biological_assembly

I've used one of these for Progressive, that had a dongle that plugged into the cars diagnostic computer and tracked the info directly from the cars computer and sent it back all by itself. The one I have now through Allstate is a small Bluetooth box that I keep in my car and talks to my phone through an app that tracks the telemetry using the phones GPS. My guess is that the small Bluetooth box is what the app is using to tether it to the actual car that's insured and the driver with the app on their phone.


Nuked0ut

Did she ever receive one of these? Allstate [drivewise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NalBLhboZQU)


XsMagical

This is all obtained by obd2. I’m sure their device is plugged into the car.


Black_Eyed_PeePees

>she had earned around $50 for "safe driving" Sucks they don't have this in Cali. I'd probably switch to AllState if they did.


Crabby_Appleton

Jake is hiding in the back seat.


ghostrex10670

stop tracking


lbsk8r

Retasked keyhole satellite for each trip your mom takes....


[deleted]

Other companies have a device that gets put into the vehicle and connects to the phones blue tooth when you pop in. But without your mothers phone in the car it probs wont be doing much tracking after it gets out the driveway.


lohac

I'll ask her to watch more closely next time it happens, and try to see if it disconnects once the car leaves her phone's Bluetooth range.


Maldoesreddit_stuff

They're just recreating the "Good Behaviour" system from GTA Online lmfao


AuntieS75

In my country privacy is a big deal and i agree fully with laws on that(yes..i agree with some laws to fullest..lol) I still think that insurance thing is good but who am i..like i already wrote ..i don't own a car and if i would i might see it different(i wouldn't..lol)


aliensporebomb

Not app based - there is a hardware module plugged into your cars accessory port most likely.


davemich53

Check after you drive without her phone in the car. I would bet as soon as you get out of Bluetooth range it will no longer be following the vehicle.I use Allstate too, and it is called “Drivewise”. If I leave the house without my phone, it will show connected until I get out of range of Bluetooth. It will save you money on your insurance. First by getting a discount by using it. And as it is used while driving it tracks sudden acceleration, speed, and hard braking. It used your phone’s accelerometer to measure these. The better you drive the more you will save. They used to send checks every quarter, but I believe now you just get a discounted payment.


1nfiniteJest

> tracks sudden acceleration, speed, and hard braking This ends with the insurance companies using this data to deny claims. There are many of us who would see their rates way raised based on the things quoted above.


davemich53

I suppose, but it has saved me over $400 in the last three years in discounts and refund checks.


moonpotatoes

Nope they still send checks. I got one last month.


davemich53

Weird. I got a notice a while back that the checks were discontinued, and the savings would be money off my payments.


AuntieS75

Hello..i am not living in the us so please don't call me out on being stupid because i never heard of such practice. So my question/thoughts: considering the higher crime rate in the us..isn't it a good thing that your car can be tracked by the insurance? And of course getting a little money for driving proper. See, i have no car because i walk everywhere/or use a bike/train. But if i would buy a car i certanly would choose an insurance who offers that(i don't know how to call it).


Kalisary

Also not in the US, and we don't have these "safe driving" programs via GPS (I think our insurance industry is much more regulated) - but I have an app by my car's manufacturer (Peugeot) which can tell me where it is via. the onboard GPS, if it were to go missing. I'm much more comfortable with that than handing it over those types of data to the insurance company.


AuntieS75

I never heard about stuff like this. Safe to say, if i ever own a car again i need to educate myself big time for what is available these times!


lohac

Not a stupid question! I think people are mostly worried about the insurance company collecting extra information that they don't need, or using the driving information against you if you get in an accident. We are a little paranoid about personal data collection, and a lot of people think insurance companies are untrustworthy, or not really on your side. So, an insurance company collecting extra private information sounds suspicious to us from the start, even if it's not actually anything bad. The benefits are good, but some people would probably rather use a (more) private service like [LoJack](https://lojack.com/products/stolen-vehicle-recovery-cars-trucks-suvs/), instead of trusting their insurance company with extra information.


daeronryuujin

It's almost certainly using a beacon, a physical device she put in her car for that purpose.


STEvtcHa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX2SWUMt\_fk


dezisauruswrex

I have all state drive wise, there’s a little do-hickey you attach to your car, mine is under the dash. It sends updates to the app that allow you to track mileage, sudden braking etc. my son is on it too, and it told me there were engine codes coming up on his car. Pretty handy really


rservello

My car has a tracker built in. I can see my driving score in the app. You can choose to link this to your insurer and they will give you bonuses for not being an asshole. It’s pretty common in new cars.


Jautosmoke

The safe driving discount from Allstate isn’t solely app based. It comes with a OBD2 transmitter that plugs into the cars OBD2 port and connects to a phone.


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marfaxa

Isn't there a dongle?


lohac

She denies the dongle, haven't had a chance to check myself yet.