in Newswire Published on January 31, 2025

Class Action Alleges Allstate Unlawfully Collects, Sells Consumers’ Driving Behavior Data Through Third-Party Apps

Eppley et al. v. The Allstate Corporation et al.

Filed: January 23, 2025 ◆§ 1:25-cv-00815

A class action claims Allstate and subsidiary Arity have unlawfully harvested and profited from the sale of consumer data collected through mobile apps.

Defendant(s)

Allstate Insurance Company The Allstate Corporation Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company Arity LLC Arity 875 LLC Arity Services LLC

Law(s)

Fair Credit Reporting Act Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 Stored Communications Act Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act Wiretap Act Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

State(s)

Illinois

Categories

Automotive Privacy

A proposed class action lawsuit claims Allstate and its data analytics subsidiary, Arity, have unlawfully harvested and profited from the sale of consumer data collected through mobile apps.

Get the latest open class action lawsuits sent to your inbox. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 53-page Allstate lawsuit alleges the insurance company has run afoul of federal and state laws by secretly collecting a “litany” of data from 45 million consumers’ mobile phones, which it then uses to increase policyholders’ insurance rates or sells to other auto insurers and third parties.

According to the suit, Allstate has integrated tracking tools into its own Drivewise app and licensed the technology to third-party apps such as MyRadar, Life360 and Fuel Rewards. When a consumer downloads an app that contains the software, they unwittingly enable the defendants to monitor their location, GPS time, speed and other data in real time, the case asserts.

In addition, the third-party apps share personal information they’ve collected from users with Allstate, the complaint contends. This personal data—which generally includes a consumer’s name, phone number, address, zip code, device ID and other identifiers—allows Allstate to link specific individuals to their mobile phone geolocation and movement data, the filing says.

The defendants market the software development kit to third parties as a way to collect consumers’ “driving behavior” data, though the tracker in fact only captures the movements of a user’s phone, the lawsuit claims. In an apparent bid to rectify this, Allstate has begun purchasing data about vehicles’ operation directly from car manufacturers, such as Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge and more, the case charges.

As the suit tells it, the defendants advertise that they have built a database housing the driving behavior information of more than 45 million people. Allstate and Arity profit from selling this data to auto insurers, retailers, marketing companies and other third parties, the complaint explains.

“Once collected, [the defendants] found several ways to monetize the ill gotten data, including by selling access to [their] driving behavior database to other insurers and using the data for [Allstate’s] own insurance underwriting. If a consumer requested a car insurance quote or had to renew their coverage, insurers would access that consumer’s driving behavior in [the defendants’] database. Insurers then used that consumer’s data to justify increasing their car insurance premiums, denying them coverage, or dropping them from coverage.”

The filing alleges the defendants never provided consumers with any sort of notice about their data collection practices, nor did the companies obtain user consent before capturing, using and selling this sensitive information.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose mobile phone data was collected, distributed, stored, used and/or sold by the defendants.

The suit also seeks to cover any person or entity in the United States whose vehicle driving data was included in consumer reports created and/or disseminated by Arity Services, LLC.

Did you know that some class action settlements require no proof to submit a claim? Check out the latest open class action settlements.

Case Spotlight

Hair Relaxer Lawsuits

Women who developed ovarian or uterine cancer after using hair relaxers such as Dark & Lovely and Motions may now have an opportunity to take legal action.

Read more here: Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits

How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?

Did you know there's usually nothing you need to do to join, sign up for, or add your name to new class action lawsuits when they're initially filed?

Read more here: How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?