The insurance industry hopes Congress will take a back seat to the states when it comes to governing the distribution of data collected by driverless vehicles.
Three industry representatives during a recent Housing and Insurance Subcommittee hearing asked that they not be restricted from the trove of information collected by autonomous vehicles as state regulators and Congress grapple with the emergence of driverless cars. Insurers are in ongoing discussions with auto manufacturers to develop policies that cover such vehicles, as well as drivers and passengers, but argue that they need as much as possible in order to properly underwrite them.
While all participants at the hearing seemed to be in agreement that accident-related data should be made available, one witness raised concerns that unfettered access could allow insurance companies to discriminate against low-income consumers.
Jack Gillis, incoming executive director for the consumer-focused lobby group Consumer Federation of America, raised questions about whether insurers would be subject to privacy constraints or be required to provide liability insurance for privacy violations. He also questioned who would own and be able to access data that was collected prior to crashes involving such vehicles.
"By necessity, the [autonomous vehicles] will be gathering tremendous amounts of personal data as they take us from place to place," Gillis said in prepared remarks.
Ryan Gammelgard, a lawyer for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.'s Public Policy Resource Group, said insurers only collect relevant data to use in evaluating claims after crashes, and stressed that it contains no personally identifiable information.
"When we talk about data access, it's data related to the crash, data that's not proprietary," Gammelgard said.
Subcommittee Chairman Sean Duffy, R-Wis., in an interview noted that insurers already "discriminate" against individuals with poor driving records. He also reiterated comments made during the hearing that insurers only use available data to gauge risk.
"They have to be able to assess risk, and in a competitive market and free market, it's pretty hard to discriminate when everyone has the same data available," Duffy said.
During the hearing, Gammelgard and Sam Geraci, vice president of strategy at American Family Mutual Insurance Co. promoted states' roles in regulating insurance covering driverless vehicles.
"We believe states should retain their traditional role," Geraci said. "We really do believe that now, and in the future, you're going to want to see states controlling this."
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., in August 2017 introduced a bill in the upper chamber that would broadly govern driverless vehicle technology. The bill would establish an advisory committee made up of auto industry stakeholders, including insurers to discuss and make policy recommendations to Congress related to every aspect of data collection and distribution by those vehicles.
Gillis said that legislation has some "serious shortcomings" as it, among other things, includes no provisions for protection against cybersecurity threats against driverless cars and it would allow auto companies to withhold certain post-accident performance data from the public, including insurance companies.
"Without these basic safety considerations, insurers will just be guessing at the risk levels associated with the introduction of [autonomous vehicles] — or be solely dependent on manufacturer performance claims."
Thune's bill thus far has gotten little traction in the Senate. When asked if there was any kind of legislation on the horizon in the House, Duffy said that "nothing is in pipeline" for the lower chamber.
