This is clearly invasion of privacy. Just think about it. If insurance companies start collection you car data like at what speed you drive etc. They can cancel policy if we violate traffic laws. If they collect healthcare data they can cancel policy for abortion or drinking etc
Insurance Company Flew a Drone to Take Photos of Man's House and Canceled His Policy
Submitted 1 year ago by seasonone@opidea.xyz to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
seasonone@opidea.xyz 1 year ago
Pietson@kbin.social 1 year ago
If they get access to our DNA they could even know if there's a history of illness in your family and use that to increase your rates. It's just one of the reasons why volunteering that data away freely to companies like 23andme is a terrible idea.
GeneralBoop@kbin.social 1 year ago
They do collect that on an opt in basis with the promise of additional discounts if you’re a good driver. Some give you a device you plug into your OBDII port, others get the telemetry directly from your car. I drive a Hyundai and I have the option of toggling on sharing anonymized driving data as well as a toggle to share your actual data with insurance companies for special offers.
lauha@lemmy.one 1 year ago
Satellite images, which give them the same information about your yard has been available for decades and I don’t hear people complaining about cool clear images of anyone’s yard invading their privacy.
Satellite images can be bought by anyone with money.
LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Wait, isn’t this technically “criminal trespassing”?
freewheel@lemmy.world 1 year ago
IANALAIANYL. In the days before the internet, I had a family member who worked for an insurance company. Buried deep in the contract was language that allowed agents of said insurance company to come on the property at any time. Her job basically was to go to people’s houses and walk around taking photos, usually at policy start or in the case of a claim - before and after. If anybody harassed her, they were at risk of having their home insurance dropped. This was Miami in the 1980s fwiw.
jtk@lemmy.sdf.org 1 year ago
I’ve worked for companies that do this my entire professional career. They do work all over the US to this day. It’s just standard property insurance practice. It’d be dumb to insure a property, for both damage and liability, sight unseen. They send many notifications via mail, automated phone and the worker directly calls before heading over there, no one wants to get shot. It surprises me a bit people don’t know about it but, even though I’ve done work in the industry for decades, I’ve never see one of the inspectors at my house. I hadn’t heard of anyone using drones yet but they’ve used bulk flyover images taken from planes with special cameras for at least 15 years.
Derproid@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Sounds like a good way to get shot in some states.
LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Wow, that’s insanely illegal
dan1101@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You don’t own the airspace over your property. The only way someone might get in trouble for flying a drone over your house is if they were looking in windows or harassing people somehow. Most pics from a drone aren’t a lot different from satellite photography.
MrMonkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
The same reason flying airplanes isn’t “criminal trespassing”. Satellite and aerial photography happen really high up.
No insurance company used a small toy drone to fly 50’ over his property for pictures.
BettyWhiteInHD@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You are being downvoted but this is the case in the US. Public airspace is public airspace.
Source: fly drones recreationally and for money.
darth_helmet@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I had my policy canceled for having a 15 year old roof, no heads up or chance to remediate any actual issues. Insurance companies are just dicking Californians because they hate being regulated.
dopeshark@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Now fly a drone over their office to see if they like it
BettyWhiteInHD@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I mean you can likely do that very easily and very legally and they likely would not care all that much.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 year ago
We only use fixed wing aircraft
Like a Predator drone? 🤔
FireTower@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Next week’s article “Insurance company cancelled the policy of local reporter”
veroxii@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In Australia some local councils use aerial photos to check for structures and developments without a permit. Built a new deck without the right paperwork, put in a big shed without approval, expect a knock on the door soon.
LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Australia is a surveillance state that’s even worse then the US
Demdaru@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I…love the logic of “I broke the rules and they got to know? HOW DARE THEY”.
Like…this is so stupidly silly I can’t. Like a child getting pissed off it was found out.
jennwiththesea@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Happens in the US, too. I know someone who got in trouble for building a shed that connected to their house by roof (covered walkway). Then the county came and inspected in person, and it turns out the shed was too large even on its own so they were dealing with that last I heard.
LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well clearly this is illegal on so many levels
PHLAK@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Unfortunately, not necessarily.
Imgonnatrythis@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Which levels?
MrMonkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Insurance companies use ariel and satellite photos. So do municipalities to check for unpermited work.
They’re not going to drive out to each customer with a toy drone. They’re essentially using google map satellite view.
Can we stop the hysteria and take a few minutes to think things through?
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 year ago
If they’re using Google satellite images, they wouldn’t have up to date pictures. Images of my own house are from almost 12 years ago.
MrMonkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Private more up-to-date sources aren’t very expensive.
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Shit, I guess I better mow my lawn and finally donate that disuesed truck to cars 4 kids.
HR_Pufnstuf@lemmy.world 1 year ago
And I’d respond by flying a decent sized drone with a special gift right into their main office.
greybeard@lemmy.one 1 year ago
Are you saying you’d bomb their office?
Ktheone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Fun fact: Twitter’s old logo was named that in honour of Larry birds legacy. As a long time fan of Larry, this gives me another reason to hate Elon.
some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Lost Lemmings.
Ktheone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s my fault, you’re right 😓, sorry friend
bleistift2@feddit.de 1 year ago
That’s why a right to privacy is so important. You never know what innocuous things anyone is looking out for.
TheHighRoad@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Insurance companies are the scum of the earth. I’m sure Big Daddy Gov will put them in their place. /s
jtk@lemmy.sdf.org 1 year ago
They are scum of the earth because they take advantage of their position to extract as much money from their customers and then deny legit claims by default and make making a claim as much of a pain in the ass for the policy holder as possible. But this is just standard insurance practice, if you don’t want people looking at your stuff, don’t ask them to insure it. Often a luxury only the rich can afford, but that’s a separate problem.
xkforce@lemmy.world 1 year ago
bleistift2@feddit.de 1 year ago
Of course they have the right to inspect the property, with the owner’s informed consent and with clear-cut boundaries of what they’re looking for. The owner needs to have the chance to correct the offending circumstances before a policy should be canceled.
Consider this case: You want to refurbish the storage room and clean it out onto the lawn while you’re painting it. The paint dries and 6 hours later you put your stuff back in. However, in these 6 hours a drone took a picture of a gas canister on your lawn. The insurance company cancels the policy because you’re storing dangerous materials.
This cannot be in anyone’s best interest.
dan@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Insurance is supposed to be a service where everyone pays a predictable amount so that they have some protection in the event of something catastrophic happening. It’s reasonable for them to assess risks, and it’s reasonable for them to charge higher premiums for riskier situations.
But there’s a line between that and “it’s fire season, send up a drone so we can cancel the riskiest x% and boost our profits”, particularly if that’s happening mid policy, and particularly if it’s in a situation where those people will find it hard to get new insurance.
Hillock@kbin.social 1 year ago
I agree that the insurance company has a right to regular inspections to spot potential risks and take action before something happens. But they should then come up with a solution rather than cancel the policy. If they told the homeowner to clean up the backyard or they will have to increase the policy/cancel it then that would be acceptable. But letting insurance companies cancel whenever they feel like it makes no sense and defeats the purpose. What's next? Flood insurance cancels your policy because heavy rain is expected?
But they definitely should have to schedule a time for the inspection. No one should be able to just film your backyard whenever they feel like it. There are tons of things one might do in their backyard they don't want others to film.