Antitrust fined Telepass and Telepass Broker (controlled by the former) for two million euros for having casually managed the data of their users and for having proposed estimates in an opaque way. The investigation by the authority, which started in June 2020 from a report from Anapa (the association of insurance agents) focused on the distribution of motor liability insurance policies through the Telepass app to Telepass Family and Telepass Viacard subscribers. It is a service that allows these users to request and obtain a third party liability quote, join and pay the premium through the same account with which they pay the normal Telepass fee.
There are two forms of conduct against the Atlantia subsidiary, which ended on February 8, 2021. The first: not having informed its consumers that its data would have been exchanged with insurance companies and intermediaries, including for commercial reasons; the second, to propose to the customer a quote without explaining by what criteria he selected the one and not others. And then there is another aspect: during the investigation phase, Antitrust discovered that Telepass had an agreement with the two intermediaries (whose names are covered by “omitted”) to ensure that, at the time of renewal, the customer would be offered the offers of those partners, “even in the presence of less expensive solutions by other operators”.
The Telepass affair brings the spotlight back to an extremely topical affair: the management of our data, whose economic value is often higher than that of a single contract. Often companies, leveraging on the “speed” and “simplicity” of an operation, push users to give their consent in a hurry. Precisely on this point, Telepass claimed that its “average customer” is not inexperienced and that, on the contrary, it is well aware that its data can also be used to sell other products. But Antitrust replied that it is all relative: if very innovative and unprecedented services are offered, consumers may “not be equipped with the necessary skills” to understand the risks they entail. In this case, you risk privacy.
Antitrust explains that the data shared between the two companies of the Telepass group are few and simple: number plate, date of birth and residential address of the customer. But more, and more vertical, are those he received from the insurance companies that provided the customer with the quote. Data that were kept up to 13 months after the end of the relationship (unless the customer expressly opposed it), giving Telepass “all the time to exploit and manage them autonomously and independently from a commercial point of view”.
As for the estimates, the customer of the service was not even told which companies the rate comparison would be made between: the app speaks of not well-identified “issuing companies”. And once the estimate has been obtained, it is not explained by which criterion it was chosen (the lowest premium with the same ceiling). Antitrust specifies that Telepass eventually updated the information on the budgeting process, making it clearer and thus filling the gaps found. But the sanction, for those eight months, has arrived.
The reactions. The announcement of the sanction attracted comments from two consumer associations. Assoutenti, one of the most active on the TPL issues of cars and mobility, complains, with its president Furio Truzzi, as “once again users are used as commercial products, and their data used illegally to increase the profits of companies”.
“In terms of motor liability insurance, users are targeted by commercial offers and comparators that promise savings, products whose convenience exists only on paper, since the proposals highlighted to consumers are actually the result of commercial agreements between insurance companies and intermediary companies – continues Truzzi – IVASS, whose task is to monitor such abuses, must strengthen its control activity precisely to prevent and nip in the bud bad practices that harm users, starting precisely from complaints and sentiments presented by consumers “.
Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union reaffirms the “sacrosanct right of the user to have clear and complete information, immediately accessible that clearly indicates any use for commercial purposes of the data provided during registration and their possible transfer to third parties. The consumer must always be free to give or deny consent to access to personal data by third parties and in order to do so he must be adequately informed. It is a well-established principle. Our data is valid “concludes Dona.
The replica. “The Telepass Group” took note of the objections of the Antitrust Authority against two of its companies “, reads a note, where the group claims to” evaluate the possibility of an appeal “against the decisions of fines of 2 million euros for unfair commercial practices in the sale of motor liability insurance policies through direct digital channels. Telepass says it is “aware that innovation can be perceived as a threat by some traditional operators – mentioned in the Authority’s provision – but believes that the needs of consumers must always be the main reference “. The Group, continues the text,” reaffirms its commitment to simplify the lives of people on the move through product and technological innovation “and claims” maximum diligence in the protection of the data of its Customers.
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