Vehicles are collecting more and more data about traffic, the driver's driving behaviour and the performance of the car itself, often unnoticed. This raises the question of who actually owns this information: the manufacturer, the government or the driver of the car? Insurers argue that consumers should be in charge of their own data. The Association also makes proposals to make this data available for useful applications through an independent, non-commercial body.
Insurers and data
In order to be able to offer modern products and services , insurers need information. Until recently, insurers only worked with data from the past, provided by policyholders. By collecting data by the vehicle and being able to share it in real time , insurers can now have much more accurate and up-to-date data. Insurers use this type of data to be able to continue and further develop products and services:
It goes without saying that insurers can only have access to this data with the consumer's consent. After all, it is the consumer who should be in control of this data.
>> Read more about how insurers handle your data
The starting point for insurers is that the customer is in the driver's seat. The consumer is in control of almost all vehicle data. For example, the consumer must be free to decide where and with which parts the car is repaired, where the car is insured and what happens to his or her data. This freedom creates competition between suppliers and a car industry in which companies keep each other on their toes. The consumer benefits from this.
At the moment, the police still find out the causes through time-consuming analyses and witness statements. We believe that a competent authority, such as the police, should increasingly be able to use data from an Event Data Recorder (EDR) to draw up accident reports. Such an EDR is already present in many cars, in the US it is even mandatory. The Association argues that an EDR should also be made mandatory in the Netherlands. If the EDR is read directly by an independent body, such as the police, the data about the moment shortly before and at the time of the accident is reliable. If insurers gain access to this data through the police, they can quickly form an opinion about liability. Both insured parties and victims benefit from a quick claim settlement. Quickly determining liability is an essential part of this.
In the opinion of the Association, it should in any case be prevented that the data can be read or changed immediately after an accident by a party that has an interest in it. An EDR records a number of things every 5 seconds and automatically deletes them after 5 seconds. In the event of an accident, the 5 seconds prior to an accident are therefore available and usually also the 5 seconds after an accident.
Cyber risk
A new risk for vehicles is cyber risk. As more vehicles are connected to the roadside or to other vehicles via the internet, the risk that a vehicle can be hacked increases. Various videos are circulating on the internet in which you can see how cars are remotely controlled by a hacker. Although preventive measures significantly reduce this risk, partly because the government will hopefully set high standards for security, the risk will never completely disappear. The Association supports the recommendations of the Cybersecurity Council for certification, quality marks and access requirements, transparency among manufacturers, suppliers and awareness.
Insurers receive data from their customers. For example, about common causes of water damage and the extent of this damage. Or about traffic accidents and the places where they happen. What is different today is that we are moving from historical data to real-time available data. This does not change the principles that insurers use when it comes to data. These principles are:
It is important that consumers can choose from various providers for maintenance, repair and insurance. To this end, it is important that the permission to make data available is separated from the sale of the vehicle. The manufacturer of a computer also doesn't get access to all the applications you use your computer for. To improve the car as a product, the manufacturer only needs a very limited set of data. Data about location, driving behaviour and so on are not necessary for this. Not even for a possible recall. It is also questionable whether the consumer is sufficiently aware of all the conditions he is signing up for and whether he can properly assess the consequences.
Insurers want to offer freedom of choice, so that it remains possible for people to purchase an insurance product without having to provide personal data about, for example, their driving behaviour. It is sometimes said that in the future, privacy will only be possible for the rich. However, if we look at the driving behaviour insurance policies currently offered in the Netherlands, we see a different picture. There are various providers of driving behaviour insurance in the Netherlands. Some of these insurances are cheaper, but others are more expensive than regular insurance. Specific target groups, such as young people, can be cheaper with driving behaviour insurance.
A consumer will only be asked to provide certain data if it is necessary for the provision of a service or the purchase of a product. If an insurer wants to offer the consumer a product or a service such as roadside assistance, certain data is required that the consumer can be asked for. In this way, the consumer can better compare the provision of the data with the purchase of the service or product. And just as important: better decisions about whether all the requested data is necessary for the service or product. For example, the continuous provision of location data is necessary in the case of mileage insurance in order to be able to calculate the number of kilometres. However, in the case of roadside assistance insurance, the provision of location data is only relevant to communicate the breakdown location.
Insurers are transparent to their customers about the data they use and the purpose for which they use it. They offer customers the opportunity to view the data and change it in case of incorrect registration. They also provide information about the storage, transfer and destruction of data. All this information is provided actively and in a way that is understandable to consumers.
Insurers are of the opinion that the data from vehicles should only be made available through a reliable, independent, non-commercial body. This body must receive readable data from all vehicle manufacturers and, with the consumer's consent, provides this data to third parties such as insurers, repairers or car manufacturers themselves. In this way, the interests of the consumer are best safeguarded. In addition, this system ensures a level playing field for all parties and encourages competition.
Such a system has been common for insurance information for many years. Under the law, insurers make their information available free of charge to the National Road Transport Agency (RDW). The RDW can then decide to provide this information (for a fee) to third parties. In this way, a level playing field is created for parties that want to offer services to consumers for whom certain insurance information is required. With the income from making the information available, the RDW finances this system.
Safe traffic is of great importance to everyone. Data that provides insight into traffic risks contribute to this. The Association believes that data that can contribute to road safety should be freely available to everyone, because of its great social importance. An EDR has two major advantages: it generates information that contributes to road safety and after an accident, data is available more quickly that helps with the issue of liability. This leads to a faster settlement of (personal) damages, which is pleasant for victims. In fact, an EDR is nothing more than a digital police report. Now the police come to the scene of the more serious accidents and analyse the accident, soon you will get that data from an EDR. In addition, the police only come to the scene in the event of serious collisions and injury collisions. An EDR also provides interesting information about 'normal' collisions.
Yes, that would be nice. The Association emphasises that possibilities and costs must be carefully examined, so that a (political) assessment can be made on that basis.