Is Subaru sharing driving data with insurance companies?

A recent report from the New York Times says Subaru is one of the car brands sharing driving data with insurance companies. From what I gathered, Subaru only shares odometer readings, while GM shares much more.

Does anyone have more details on this? If Subaru is doing this, is there a way to opt out?

In the MySubaru app, under Legal Disclaimers, there’s a ‘Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information’ form. Anyone know if that actually stops the data sharing?

Kase said:
In the MySubaru app, under Legal Disclaimers, there’s a ‘Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information’ form. Anyone know if that actually stops the data sharing?

Just submitted mine. Thanks for pointing it out.

Kase said:
In the MySubaru app, under Legal Disclaimers, there’s a ‘Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information’ form. Anyone know if that actually stops the data sharing?

Here’s the email I got after opting out:

Thank you for contacting Subaru to exercise your privacy rights. We will begin fulfilling your requests, including:

  • Right to Know: Once verified, we will provide details on how your data is collected, processed, shared, or sold.
  • Right to Opt Out: We will stop sharing your data with third parties and notify them to stop as well.
  • Right to Be Forgotten: We will delete personal data that is not legally required to be kept.

If you want to change your request, contact Subaru at 1-800-SUBARU3. Some requests may take up to 45 days to process.

@Rafe
I just submitted mine too. Kinda worried about the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ part. Will this mess with my account or access to MySubaru features?

AlexJordan1 said:
@Rafe
I just submitted mine too. Kinda worried about the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ part. Will this mess with my account or access to MySubaru features?

You should be fine. I haven’t noticed any issues so far.

@Rafe
Did everything still work? I don’t want to lose access to Starlink if I opt out.

Remington said:
@Rafe
Did everything still work? I don’t want to lose access to Starlink if I opt out.

Yeah, Starlink still works. But how can I be sure Subaru actually stopped collecting my data?

@Rafe
You can request your data from LexisNexis. That’s the data broker that sells it to insurance companies.

AlexJordan1 said:
@Rafe
I just submitted mine too. Kinda worried about the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ part. Will this mess with my account or access to MySubaru features?

Guess we’ll see what happens.

Kase said:
In the MySubaru app, under Legal Disclaimers, there’s a ‘Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information’ form. Anyone know if that actually stops the data sharing?

I checked my app but couldn’t find the opt-out form anywhere. Can someone tell me exactly where it is?

@Rowen

@Sloan
Same here. Can’t find it in Colorado.

@Sloan
Looks like it might not be available in Canada. No sign of that form in my app.

If you’re looking for the New York Times article without a paywall, here’s an archive link: https://archive.is/TKcHS

Auto shops already share data with Carfax. Since I never agreed to anything with Carfax, I have no idea if they share my info with insurance companies too. Feels like everyone just trades data without permission.

Want to see what data your car is collecting? Here are some resources:

There’s a Congressional investigation happening now about car companies sharing data. GM is facing a lawsuit over it.

Senator Markey Urges FTC to Investigate

GM Data Privacy Lawsuit

Car companies can access DMV records, so they don’t even need built-in tracking to get mileage info.

beky said:
Car companies can access DMV records, so they don’t even need built-in tracking to get mileage info.

That makes sense, but this kind of data-sharing seems newer. Usually, when companies say ‘90% of our cars are still on the road,’ they’re talking about older vehicles.