Progressive Insurance is acclimating consumers to having their driving habits tracked in exchange for discounts. Now mobile app developer Dash Labs hopes consumers will be willing to divulge even more data it could then sell to insurance firms, automakers, and even use for ad targeting based on driver location. The company counts Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley among its advisers.
The firm is testing its Dash mobile app on around 400 different car models driven by a small number of closed beta participants. Dash pulls data from a small device — the same kind used in Progressive’s Snapshot program — that can be installed under the steering wheel of any vehicle made after 1996. Though typically used by mechanics to diagnose car problems, the devices actually track a variety of data points that can be valuable to drivers and corporations.
The app tracks 300 data points, including the type of vehicle being driven, who’s in it and the time of day she’s driving and vehicle location. The system can even infer why the driver is going where she’s going (is it for work, school, home, or some other purpose?). And, because Dash has a game component that ties into a user’s social accounts, the company can measure that information against Facebook friends, or connections on Foursquare, Instagram and Twitter.
via Advertising Age – Homepage http://adage.com/article/digital/data-startup-create-automotive-graph/243454/?utm_source=Digital&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AdvertisingAge/Digital