This week the MySkoda App added a "Driving Score" category, recording my driving with regard to acceleration, braking, speeding, night driving, etc. The Driving Score App looks suspiciously like the apps that Insurance Companies require young drivers to have, reporting back to the company and determining the amount of insurance premium that will have to be paid. I can't find anything in the documentation of the app that reassures me that information about my driving won't be put on some central reqister and will be used to rate me when it comes time for insurance renewal. Does anyone know the ins and outs of what this "feature" can do? Will anyone with the app be monitored on every trip? The app has been getting better recently, but might it be time to keep Big Brother out of my passenger seat?

Edited 1 May, 20251 yr by HenPen
Hit "Enter" key by mistake before finishing the message.

Just seen this update myself; the App Store entry includes this...

And the App Privacy is fairly vague placing User Content in the "Data Linked to You" section. Can't see anywhere to arrange car insurance so I assume the feature is not [yet] available in UK.

Couldn't see anything on the Škoda website about what they do with the driving score data.

Just found this...

https://www.skoda-auto.com/connectivity/driving-score

Edited 1 May, 20251 yr by SteveTheElder
Just found the link to the Driving Score info on Škoda website

According to the FAQs...

Noticed the update today for my 2024 Superb.

It's been turned off straight away. I'm not having any company having that data.

I've recently had issues with my insurer because back in 2020 I did a comparison search for a modified car.

2 hours ago, logiclee said:

It's been turned off straight away. I'm not having any company having that data

I couldn’t find the option to turn it off. Any pointers welcome

10 hours ago, SteveTheElder said:

I couldn’t find the option to turn it off. Any pointers welcome

Open App and go to Profile section.

Scroll down to Permissions and consent.

Then Vehicle Consents.

Turn off Access to Vehicle Data.

7 hours ago, logiclee said:

Open App and go to Profile section.

Scroll down to Permissions and consent.

Then Vehicle Consents.

Turn off Access to Vehicle Data.

Thanks very much, but…

Seems I can’t turn it off ‘cos all I get is this

No doubt one of the ‘joys’ of an early build car ☹️

Edited 2 May, 20251 yr by SteveTheElder

8 hours ago, logiclee said:

Open App and go to Profile section.

Scroll down to Permissions and consent.

Then Vehicle Consents.

Turn off Access to Vehicle Data.

But then you lose all the other vehicle data things like fuel economy, location, sat-nav link etc..... don't you?

What I find interesting (or perhaps that should be concerning) is that on opening the updated app the Driving Score is showing not only the current period but any change since the previous one. So, previous versions of the app were also collecting the data.

Why, for example, would the App need to know if a driver was speeding to show fuel economy, location, etc.? Unless I am mistaken that is collection and storing of information, linked to an individual, without having a relevant requirement.

1 hour ago, WaveyDavey said:

But then you lose all the other vehicle data things like fuel economy, location, sat-nav link etc..... don't you?

I've not driven it yet but it's still showing location in the map and can lock and unlock etc.

44 minutes ago, SteveTheElder said:

What I find interesting (or perhaps that should be concerning) is that on opening the updated app the Driving Score is showing not only the current period but any change since the previous one. So, previous versions of the app were also collecting the data.

Why, for example, would the App need to know if a driver was speeding to show fuel economy, location, etc.? Unless I am mistaken that is collection and storing of information, linked to an individual, without having a relevant requirement.

Yep same for me.

22 hours ago, logiclee said:

I've not driven it yet but it's still showing location in the map and can lock and unlock etc.

I turned off permissions for vehicle data and everything still works. Having looked again I think the permission is just for them to hold and use your vehicle data for research etc….. not for the day to day use of the app or for your own use of the driving score info. So all’s good to turn that option off. 👍🏼

Edited 3 May, 20251 yr by WaveyDavey

I have the same. This feels like a violation, because I do not remember agreeing to this kind of use of my data.

Basically, getting the gdpr request from them now and then will involve our countries ombudsman. This is not fine.

If anyone wants to see what data they have collected on you, you can use their automated tool: https://privacyportal-de.onetrust.com/webform/4f52de0a-110f-4524-8986-02d49fa567c3/b52d4bbc-8309-429d-bcbb-fe8618251619

Just noticed this on the app and checked my driving score

97 score but issues with speeding

OUCH

I am a conscientious driver with an advanced license in the UK

Like all of us and especially with the new 20mph limits which are more prevalent it is difficult not to sometimes inadvertently creep above the limits

This does seem like something that may be used by insurance companies and have heard some of the horror stories by people using black box policies

My other concern is with the issues of the infotainment system, some of which are on my sat nav how reliable is this information

29 minutes ago, BeastVRS said:

Just noticed this on the app and checked my driving score

97 score but issues with speeding

OUCH

I am a conscientious driver with an advanced license in the UK

Like all of us and especially with the new 20mph limits which are more prevalent it is difficult not to sometimes inadvertently creep above the limits

This does seem like something that may be used by insurance companies and have heard some of the horror stories by people using black box policies

My other concern is with the issues of the infotainment system, some of which are on my sat nav how reliable is this information

I will disagree about the possible usage of the data, as they actually mention use of this data for the insurance purposes in the changelogs of app.

Also the data that is calculated, it is a honeypot for insurers.

Our new cars have been monitoring us since April 2018 when the legal requirement of eCall became a legal requirement on new vehicles https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/ecall-all-new-cars-april-2018

While this technology was meant to be used for emergency call in the event of an accident it can also be used for a whole lot more information, obviously exactly where you are, how fast you are driving, what time you started & finished your journey, your route etc etc. To the best of my knowledge our cars have an electronic SIM built into the bulkhead that is used to transfer this information.

There is still a grey area over who exactly owns this data that is collected on us, and it is not available outside of the servers it is stored on unless the relevant authorities get the OK from a court of law.

In this particular case JLR had to hand over the collected information to the police which led to a successful conviction, read from about half way down this article to the section how car technology caught a killer https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51466273

Big brother is watching us, same as our mobile phones, internet connection etc etc monitoring us in our everyday lives and there's nothing to very little we can do about it, except live completely off grid, and even then................

Edited 25 May, 20251 yr by cnc

Driving Instructors Association

Drivers are in the dark about cars collecting their data

Many modern cars can collect and transmit data about the driver to external parties using integrated internet connection and technology – but are car owners aware that they can do so? Uswitch car i...

As mentioned manufactures have been collecting data for years. The use of certain functions in a car is collected in case you make a warranty claim for example.

The petrol vRS has launch control but each time you use it the car records it. If you were to then take a DSG fault to them as a warranty claim and it was found you’d been using the launch control left, right and centre they’d have the evidence they needed to refuse the claim due to you’re own misuse.

The app gives you the option of them not using any of the data used by the driving score function of the app to not be kept or shared to other parties so you just need to go with that option if you have any concerns.

55 minutes ago, WaveyDavey said:

As mentioned manufactures have been collecting data for years. The use of certain functions in a car is collected in case you make a warranty claim for example.

The petrol vRS has launch control but each time you use it the car records it. If you were to then take a DSG fault to them as a warranty claim and it was found you’d been using the launch control left, right and centre they’d have the evidence they needed to refuse the claim due to you’re own misuse.

The app gives you the option of them not using any of the data used by the driving score function of the app to not be kept or shared to other parties so you just need to go with that option if you have any concerns.

Hi,

Where in app does it give you that option? I am currently in a 15+ email chain with Skoda support and even they themselves cannot provide a way to turn off Driving score option.

Steps with a screenshot would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: adding screenshot where there is no consent given and they still process that data.

All of them are off and so are the settings in Skoda self service portal. They basically ignore those.

Edited 25 May, 20251 yr by Ilgmars
Adding screenshot

7 minutes ago, Ilgmars said:

Hi,

Where in app does it give you that option? I am currently in a 15+ email chain with Skoda support and even they themselves cannot provide a way to turn off Driving score option.

Steps with a screenshot would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: adding screenshot where there is no consent given and they still process that data.

All of them are off and so are the settings in Skoda self service portal. They basically ignore those.

That's one of the options....... Which means they can't store it or give it to 3rd parties....... Having that set to off means you can still use the functions of the app but they don't keep any of the data.

3 minutes ago, WaveyDavey said:

That's one of the options....... Which means they can't store it or give it to 3rd parties....... Having that set to off means you can still use the functions of the app but they don't keep any of the data.

Well, all of the consent switches are off, same in their self service portal but they still process that data and not only the Driving score.

Given how many defects the app and infotainment system has, I am not holding my breath.

Skoda Support so far has been just wasting time to keep the SLA counters going and replying with ChatGPT generated slop.

Overall I do not care about most of the defects, but the unsolicited Driving Score thing feels like a serious violation.

The speeding element of the driving score is completely unreliable as it is based on the speed limit information in the built in satnav - in my case anyway. The car does not have road sign recognition; the satnav database is always out of date (as is any published mapping, TomTom, Google or whoever). Temporary speed limits are not going to be in there either.

As for privacy, I gave up with Customer Services and am in email dialogue with the data manager. Under GDPR they are not allowed to store personally identifiable data that is not relevant, and any data that is, only with specific permission.

My main complaint is that I can’t even get to the Vehicle Data Access permissions screen to turn it off. Apparently it’s not applicable to my vehicle.

I've only got 50 out of 100 for "Night driving/ Rush hour"! What does the app think I'm doing wrong ? Is any driving after dark or in times it considers rush hour marked down as bad? Is it monitoring speed and frequent stops to try to deduce congestion?

Luckily this just makes the overall score less valuable to an insurance company or anyone else snooping.

I have the same problems with "Rush Hour/Night Driving" even though rural Dorset doesn't have a "rush hour" and I haven't driven the car after 8:00pm. I also suspect that "speed" is measured through an accelerometer, rather than a check against satnav data. This would mean that a sharp corner at 25 counts as "speeding", whereas 95 on a straight road would not.

It would seem that the only way to turn off the data collection is NOT in the app, but in the car itself, through the permissions in the car's infotainment centre. This would, of course, vastly limit the usefulness of all sorts of things, taking the technology back to the technological level, say, of a Ford Cortina.

This is the official Skoda position about the data:

"You can opt out by activating Private Mode in your vehicle’s infotainment system. Once Private Mode is enabled and you have received a confirmation email at your registered email address (in MyŠkoda App), data collection and the calculation of your Driving Score will stop from that moment onward.

Please note: Any Driving Score already calculated based on previously collected data will remain visible in the MyŠkoda App, but no new data will be collected or processed while Private Mode is active."

Edited 26 May, 20251 yr by HenPen
Addin a space

According to Google's AI turning on the "Private Mode" in a car will disable most of the Infotainment System's functions, but it is the only way to turn off the data feed for the Driving Score. In other words, there's LESS info available that the Ford Cortina had!

Gemini (Google's AI) says,

In a Škoda vehicle, "Private Mode" temporarily disables online services in the infotainment system. This includes features like online navigation, traffic information, and some online services related to ŠKODA Connect. While "Private Mode" is active, the emergency call service (eCall) and Info Call/Breakdown Call remain functional, including data transfer. 

How to Activate Private Mode:

1. Access Settings: Press the "Menu" button on the navigation system.

2. Navigate to Connect: Go to "Settings" and then "Connect".

3. Manage Online Services: Navigate to "Online Services" or a similar option to manage online services.

4. Activate Private Mode: Select "Private Mode" to enable it. 

What happens when Private Mode is active:

• Online Services Disabled:

  Infotainment online services are temporarily switched off, as indicated by an icon on the navigation bar,

• Emergency Services Remain Active:

  The eCall service and Info Call/Breakdown Call remain active and functional, including data transfer,

• No Data Transfer for Online Services:

  While Private Mode is active, data transfer for online services is deactivated,

• No Position Data Shared:

  The car's position is not shared with the customer portal or the app in Private Mode,