British carmaker JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) is the latest in a growing line of automotive brands to be accused of secretly collecting and selling customer’s data to third-party companies.
Gail Hupper and William Wood, the owners of a 2023 Land Rover Defender, have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of Massachusetts, alleging their vehicle’s InControl data recording system was on-selling the information it collected to insurance agencies.
This includes the vehicle’s location history, acceleration and braking data and even calls made via Bluetooth, the filers claim.
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According to the pair, they were not aware the Defender was continuously connected to the internet until receiving two software update notices, claiming JLR didn’t adequately disclose its constant connection status in marketing materials.
They later wrote to the carmaker to request to be “provided a clear and comprehensive accounting of the data our vehicle has collected since we purchased it and who has had (or may yet have) access to that data,” as well a termination of any further data collection.
After back-and-forth with JLR in which the company didn’t deny it was collecting, sharing or selling customer data, the pair launched their lawsuit, believing the British marque has done so.
The lawsuit references other recent instances in which car owners have found manufacturers to be collecting and selling data.
In March, The New York Times published an in-depth investigation about a Chevrolet Bolt owner who had been quoted a significantly higher insurance renewal premium, later discovering his driving data was being sold to insurance firms by data broker LexisNexis.
This was followed by a second report, detailing a proposed class action lawsuit put forward by a Cadillac XT6 owner who claimed he was denied insurance by seven companies on account of his LexisNexis driving report provided to the firms.
The Cadillac’s owner – Romeo Chicco – filed the lawsuit against General Motors, LexisNexis and OnStar, GM’s connected services brand.
GM subsequently cut ties with both LexisNexis and Verisk, a similar company which also sold driving data to insurance companies, ending its sharing of OnStar data with the firms.
Last month, another US lawsuit alleged Hyundai and Kia are sharing vehicle data to insurance companies and violated the US’s Fair Credit Reporting Act with their connected car services, including UVO Connect, Kia Connect, Bluelink, and Bluelink+.
Mark Will, a Hyundai Santa Fe owner who filed the lawsuit, claimed data on his driving behaviour between December 2023 and April 2024 was shared by data broker Verisk Analytics with his insurance provider, triggering a US$250 (A$375) increase to his premium.
MORE: GM cuts ties with data-collecting firms after selling driver’s information
MORE: Hyundai, Kia accused of selling owner data, leading to higher insurance premiums
