Conspiracy theorists are having a field day with one anonymous person’s YouTube comment after they suggested that their car was spying on them, so let’s try to unravel this mystery.

A post on the r/Conspiracy subreddit included a screenshot of a YouTube comment that reads, “Just bought a 2023 Tundra with the 14” screen. Let my son borrow it for the afternoon, he connected his phone to listen to his iTunes. The next day my insurance company raised my rates and added my son to my policy. The email said that a private company showed that my son drove the vehicle. He already had his own vehicle that he was insuring. My insurance company demanded he give all his insurance info and some private info for proof. He declined for privacy reasons and my insurance cancelled my policy. These new vehicles with their tech are on condition that we give up our privacy to enter their world. It’s not worth it people.”

The comment can be found on a video from the Car Wizard, and in follow-up comments, OP reveals that the insurance company was Geico, and she has now switched to Travelers (alternate theory: guerrilla marketing for Travelers?).

It does seem like there might be something to this — a New York Times report from earlier this year revealed that drivers’ data is being shared with insurance companies, and a recent Reuters report explored the privacy issues that come with connected cars, including the sharing of data with insurance companies who then use said data to make decisions about things like insurance premiums and renewals.

One sticking point is that insurance companies shouldn’t be able to tell who was driving the car — the son could have connected his phone as a passenger. This led several commenters to decry the story as fake, but considering the evidence surrounding the privacy issues associated with these cars, my verdict is “further investigation required.”

Dismissed!