Allstate Patents Physiological Data Collection

TigerPlish writes: Allstate has been granted patent no. US 20140080100 A1 for a "driving-behavior database that it said might be useful for health insurers, lenders, credit-rating agencies, marketers and potential employers." The program is just in the patent stage for now, but the company says: "the invention has the potential to evaluate drivers' physiological data, including heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram signals, which could be recorded from steering wheel sensors." Imagine a world where you are denied employment or credit based on the information obtained from your car and sold by your insurer. What could possibly go wrong?

Comments

Patent 9,053,591

[sillivalley]

the linked document is the publication copy, not the issued patent. the issued patent is as cited above, which issued on June 9.

on first blush the claims seem pretty limited to speed/acceleration and location/speed.

I'd bet there's a continuation in the works on this one, going for broader claims.

Re:Shaking my head

[neilo_1701D]

Insurance companies ... contribute nothing while taking exorbitant amounts of our money.

Whilst I've no great love of insurance companies, I do disagree with "contribute nothing". They contribute to your life by wearing the risk that you are unable or unwilling to wear yourself.

Example: I have a 2001 Infiniti QX4 which I paid $4500 for. At this point in my financial life, I simply cannot afford to risk the loss of that car; therefore I am paying Geico an agreed monthly sum for them to lay awake at night and worry, whereas I can get a good night's sleep. They have contributed to my life in the loss of stress.

Another example: public liability. If you own a house, are you willing to risk some nutjob walking down your driveway, "tripping" over a crack and suing you for every cent you have or will ever have? Me, I'd prefer to hand that risk off to some insurance company; preferably one who retains a cadre of lawyers thatnreally, really don't like the concept of giving that nutjob anything (except the legal bill). How about the total loss of everything you own in a fire? Do you want to have that risk yourself, or would you prefer to pay someone else to have that risk for you?

Yes, insurance companies can be a pain in the neck. Yes, you deal with an insurance company knowing full well you better bring your own KY. But I'd much rather deal with their crap than face financial ruin.

Sound Like HIPAA Violation to me

[budgenator]

Allstate's patent also said the invention has the potential to evaluate drivers' physiological data, including heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram signals, which could be recorded from steering wheel sensors. ... The recorded data may also provide an objective behavioral data collection system for third parties, e.g., health insurance companies, lending institutions, credit-rating companies, product and service marketing companies, potential employers, to evaluate an individual's behavioral characteristics in a real-life and commonly experienced situation, i.e., driving a motor vehicle, Insurer monitoring your heart rate?

That's a lot of big words, but all I can hear is HIPAA violation!

Protected Health Information.
  The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."12

“Individually identifiable health information” is information, including demographic data, that relates to:

        the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition,
        the provision of health care to the individual, or
        the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual,

and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual.13 Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule

Re: it has already gone wrong

[MrKrillls]

You are a sample of just one. Employers are not always trustworthy or law abiding. Sometimes simply do not know the law. Lots of employers skirt laws with behaviour just barely inside the line, and in essense, discriminate all the time, etc.