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By Lookout Staff

August 13 – Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog is urging California residents to oppose a State bill they say would let Big Brother “ride shotgun when you drive.”

The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman would let auto insurance companies put a black box tracking device in vehicles to monitor when, where and how you drive, said Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate at the nonprofit group.

AB 2800 -- which purports to clean the air by cutting insurance premiums for drivers who spend less time on the road-- would result in higher rates for drivers who don't sign up for insurers' mileage verification programs, Balber said.

“People who don't sign up for the program would pay for other drivers' discounts, because the insurance company has to make up a rebate by charging someone else more,” Balber said.

“In California, where privacy is protected in the second sentence of the state Constitution, people are rightly going to be concerned about insurers' use of information they collect in our cars. No one should have to pay more for auto insurance in order to protect their privacy.”

Opponents are asking Huffman to amend the bill to limit collection of any information other than mileage.

They also would like to see a fair "pay as you drive" program that would offer the option of a physical odometer check, an important alternative for older cars that cannot be equipped with the necessary technology.

Fueling fears that the information gathered would go far beyond mileage, State Farm told the California Department of Insurance last month that insurers should be allowed to collect "time of day," "days of the week," "type of road," "where miles are driven," "speed" and "aggressive maneuvers (hard stops, starts, or turns)," Balber said

Consumer Watchdog, which is based in Sunset Park, is urging California residents to send a message to their State senators asking them to oppose the bill.

The bill is scheduled to go to the floor of the State Senate next month.