Discrimination Issues in Usage-Based Insurance for Traditional and Autonomous Vehicles

Vehicle insurance companies have started to offer usage-based policies which track users to estimate premiums. In this paper we argue that usage-based vehicle insurance can lead to indirect discrimination of sensitive personal characteristics of users, have a negative impact in multiple personal freedoms, and contribute to reinforcing existing socio-economic inequalities. We argue that there is an incentive for autonomous vehicles (AVs) to use similar insurance policies, and anticipate new sources of risk that may lead to indirect and structural discrimination. We conclude by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of alternative insurance policies for AVs: no-fault compensation schemes, technical explainability and fairness, and national funds.