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Is Your Car Reporting Your Driving to Insurers? How to Check and Opt Out

A mechanical car odometer, close up, with a sticky note reading “Hard braking?”.
Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash

Most cars built in the last several years have their own cellular connection. In January 2025 the FTC said one automaker had collected location and driving data from millions of vehicles, as often as every three seconds for some drivers, and sold it without clear consent. Insurers relied on reports built from that data to set rates, the agency said. Some drivers found out only when a premium went up.

See how to check your own file

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By Ray Castellano · Updated Sep 29, 2026 · Reviewed against FTC, California Department of Justice and CPPA, Texas Attorney General filings as reported, CFPB, LexisNexis Risk Solutions consumer portal, Consumer Reports

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This still matters if you've never owned that brand. Nearly every automaker gathers driving and location data from connected cars. The enforcement actions changed who the data can go to and what consent comes first, not whether it's collected. Your phone can do the job too: a Texas lawsuit alleges that software inside ordinary apps logged how phones moved while their owners drove.

Plenty of people assume an older car means no data. It doesn't, if the car has a built-in cellular connection or you use the brand's app. And delivery day at the dealership, when you're tapping through prompts to get the keys, is when many drivers got signed up.

Rate already went up? See what to do

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Before you join a driving-score program

Not all driving data gets to insurers behind your back, since some of it people hand over for a discount. Low mileage, mostly daylight driving and a gentle foot on the brake: that's the profile where a monitored program or a pay-per-mile policy can cut your premium. Just take the answers below from the program terms, not from the ad.

  1. Can the rate go up, or only down? Some programs can raise it, and that isn't always spelled out at sign-up.
  2. What gets recorded. You want the specifics on whatever the device or app logs, and in particular whether your location is part of it.
  3. Who else sees it. Is the data shared with anyone outside the insurer, or sold? That one deserves a straight answer.
  4. What happens if you leave. Look for what becomes of the data once you quit, and if the terms are silent, put the question to the insurer in writing before you sign up.
  5. Your state's limits. Some states limit how much these programs can surcharge you, and your state insurance department's site will say whether yours does.

All of that is about data you'd be choosing to share. The other kind is what the article's about: whether there's already a driving file with your name on it, who's looked at it, and how you shut off the flow.

See the 5 places to switch it off

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