Monthly Archives: February 2012

Irony

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

I am so busy doing interesting things that would be fun to blog about that I do not at present have time to blog about them.

Posted in Discourse.net | Comments Off on Irony

Another One for the “I Warned You” File (Updated)

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

TomTom has signed a deal with an insurance company to use its satnav technology to measure driving ability to set premiums.

The satnav specialist said it has teamed up with Motaquote on Fair Pay Insurance – a product that the companies claim rewards ‘good’ drivers with lower premiums, using technology to monitor driver behaviour.

— TomTom tech to set driver insurance premiums (spotted via Slashdot.)

Sorry to sound like a broken record here, but I predicted something like this over a decade ago in The Death of Privacy?. That doesn’t mean I have to like it…although in principle this one I hate a little less than some, since at least it’s a private transaction, and in theory you have some choice about whether you sign on for it.

The problem is that the choice to refrain likely won’t last long. Other companies are already doing something similar. See for example Progressive Insurance’s “Snapshot” program that monitors your driving for 30 days in order to figure out your quote. Once this sort of monitoring becomes widespread, those who do not sign up for it will be dumped into the high-risk pool. This seems to be an example of the phenomenon discussed so well by Lior Strahilevitz in Privacy versus Antidiscrimination.

Previously:

Update (2/10/12): Looks like insurers will be tracking drivers in the UK too:

The AA is set to launch a new insurance policy which uses sat-nav technology to track driver performance.

The firm said the system would allow its better drivers to receive cheaper premiums.

It follows similar efforts by smaller insurers. Larger rival Direct Line has told the BBC it is also piloting its own “black box” scheme.

Posted in Law: Privacy | 1 Comment

Bad, Bad Mortgage Settlement

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

The Top Twelve Reasons Why You Should Hate the Mortgage Settlement

As we’ve said before, this settlement is yet another raw demonstration of who wields power in America, and it isn’t you and me. It’s bad enough to see these negotiations come to their predictable, sorry outcome. It adds insult to injury to see some try to depict it as a win for long suffering, still abused homeowners.

There’s almost nothing here for the homeowners on a per-person basis. There is a whole lot more in it for the banks, not least the cutting off of serious lawsuits about what appears to be long-established patterns of fraudulent behavior by the banks and/or their agents.

Posted in Econ & Money: Mortgage Mess | 8 Comments

Mediate Our Dispute

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

My office neighbor Caroline Bradley and I are having a mild disagreement over her incredulity that greek doctors are “foreign government officials” for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act purposes.

My take is that if they are state employees, and if they have authority to buy stuff, and if the bribes are to get them to buy the stuff in particular ways, then why not?

Please direct any comments to the original post.

Posted in Law: Criminal Law | Comments Off on Mediate Our Dispute

MN Town’s Child Suicide Cluster Likely Has a Political Cause

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Rolling Stone’s Sabrina Rubin Erdely describes the human cost of political gay-bashing: nine student suicides in two years in Michelle Bachmann’s home district. The article attributes this to the local School Board’s embrace of a fervent anti-gay agenda. This in turn fed a climate of severe anti-gay bullying in the schools, making targeted students’ life hell — while administrators did nothing, maybe under the Board’s policies could do nothing, to protect them.

Posted in Civil Liberties | Comments Off on MN Town’s Child Suicide Cluster Likely Has a Political Cause

QOTD: “Facebook Is a Man-In-The-Middle Attack”

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Eben Moglen has the bon mot (or is mot juste the better term?) — Moglen: Facebook Is a Man-In-The-Middle Attack

Posted in Internet | Comments Off on QOTD: “Facebook Is a Man-In-The-Middle Attack”