I happened to be watching a commercial today involving Progressive Insurance and decided that it was time to call bull___ on its “wonderful” Snapshot hardware piece which is, in fact, nothing more than one further step into the implantation of an RFID chip under your skin, beyond your vehicle’s.

Cutting to the chase: “Snapshot” uses your automobile’s electronics to testify against your driving habits should they stray one molecule from strictly lawful parameters.  Parameters that will be constantly monitored via the loving “Snapshot.”

Newer automobiles already possess their own version of an airliner’s “black box” — an EDR — which records various forms of input and can be accessed following a traffic collision, as it logs up to 15 to 30 seconds of input prior to impact, manufacturer-dependent.  First, very few people realize these devices exist in their cars.  Second, that data should belong to you and no one else.  Third, the computer codes in those devices are not open source.  They are proprietary.  Fourth, can you tinker with or disable your EDR?  Even the ACLU raises these very important issues.  Once.

One thing you need to realize: Progressive Insurance came upon that name for a very specific reason.  It is the third largest auto insurer in the United States.  Its revenues top $13 billion dollars per year.

Peter Lewis, former CEO and now Chairman of the Board, inherited cash from his father who co-created Progressive in 1937.  Lewis has a wealth rating of one billion dollars.  It is no shock that he has contributed $7 million and $8 million to the ACLU in 2001 and 2003.

It is also no shock that he contributed $3 million to America Coming Together and $2.5 million to MoveOn.org.  That is your Progressive Insurance — being, in fact, progressive — another word for Leftist.

Progressive buys ads on, say, Fox News, and makes additional millions from these ads.  Flo is cute; her company is not.  Their ads are, however, extremely well planned and effective.  How could you not like her, no matter what she suggests?

That said, focus closely on Snapshot.

Some excellent questions and issues from CannonFire:

The question is: How much info are you sending to them? Are they tracking your location via GPS? Are they keeping track of how fast you go?

Progressive insists that they don’t collect location and speed info. In the video embedded above, you’ll see a Progressive commercial in which the lady with the stoplight lips assures you that the company doesn’t want to know where you go or how fast you get there. All they want to know is the amount of driving you do, how hard you hit the brakes, and what time of day you travel.

But here is the crux of the biscuit:

Even if that were all there were to it, I still would advise you to steer clear of Snapshot. Insurance companies have a financial incentive to deny claims. The more info you give them, the more reasons they have for issuing a denial.

But the real problem is this: I’ve uncovered evidence that Progressive Insurance is lying about Snapshot.

I’m sure that Ms. StoplightLips — whose real name is Stephanie Courtney, and who is surely a decent and well-meaning person — would not knowingly tell lies. Nevertheless, there are strange discrepancies between the things that lovely Stephanie is being paid to say on TV and the things we learn if we do a little research.

The small print says:

Data We Collect

The Snapshot device records vehicle speed and time of day, and when the device is connected and disconnected from the vehicle. It also records the Vehicle Identification Number upon installation. Other information, such as miles driven and rates of acceleration and braking, is derived from the speed and time information recorded by the device.

Data We Don’t Collect

Snapshot focuses on how safely, how often, how far, and when you drive, NOT where you drive. The Snapshot device does not contain GPS technology and does not track vehicle location or whether you’re exceeding the speed limit.

But wait; there’s more!

A close reading of the above text reveals the truth: Of course Snapshot transmits info about “vehicle speed.” The device simply doesn’t reveal whether or not you were exceeding the speed limit at any given time.

But if the company collects speed data, investigators can easily discover whether you were going over the limit after the fact. They may even be able to do so in real time. (Has someone written software which collates the speed limits on all of America’s roads? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the insurance companies have an app for that.)

So: If you put in a claim, Progressive will know if you were traveling 42 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. Claim denied!

Please read the rest of the article.

Stupid Americans are signing up for Progressive’s “Snapshot.”  They apparently want their privacy violated on not just a daily basis but a second-by-second basis.

Because Snapshot isn’t tracking you.  Except:

Snapshot is an example of what the industry calls a telematics device, defined here as…

…a type of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication that combines GPS, mobile computing and cellular communication.

Hmm. If telematics involve GPS by definition, can we trust Progressive?

Drivers plug a device, the “Snapshot,” into the car’s onboard diagnostic port, or OBD-II, typically found near the steering wheel. [The OBD-II is a standardized digital communications port which was made mandatory in 1996 for all cars sold in the United States.] Using telematics and mobile technology, as they drive, information is shared wirelessly, via AT&T’s network, with Progressive.

(Emphasis in original.) If the company uses ATT’s network, then they can triangulate location. That’s the key part they’re not telling you.

Further:

Moreover, Progressive’s claim that Snapshot contains no GPS data is in direct conflict with what we read in this Wikipedia article on telematics:

Telematic auto insurance was independently invented and patented[12] by a major U.S. auto insurance company, Progressive Auto Insurance U.S. Patent 5,797,134 and a Spanish independent inventor, Salvador Minguijon Perez (European Patent EP0700009B1). The Progressive patents cover the use of a cell phone and GPS to track movements of a car. The Perez patents cover monitoring the car’s engine control computer to determine distance driven, speed, time of day, braking force, etc. Ironically, Progressive is developing the Perez technology in the US and European auto insurer Norwich Union is developing the Progressive technology for Europe.

Imagine that.  An insurance company lying to you in order to — in the end game — deny claims and save money.  The ultimate End Game?

Progressive is not the only company getting into the telematics business. Pretty soon, these devices will be standard.

Welcome to the new world of Big Brother climbing up your arshole and invading your car.

BZ