Patent Application Titled “Telematics Authentication” Published Online (USPTO 20220351557): Allstate Insurance Company

2022 NOV 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventor Slusar, Mark V. (Chicago, IL, US), filed on May 20, 2022, was made available online on November 3, 2022.

The assignee for this patent application is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “In the automotive insurance industry, there is a need for systems and methods to protect, authenticate, and verify vehicle measurement data associated with telematics devices. The data provided by such devices has become increasingly utilized in recent years to gain powerful insights into the behavior of insured drivers, and ultimately, to tailor sophisticated insurance plans on a driver-by-driver basis.

“Telematics devices may be used to monitor a multitude of vehicle systems and provide end data concerning engine RPM, emissions, vehicle speed, throttle position, acceleration and braking rates, use of onboard driver control systems, interior and exterior temperature, and the like. Insurance providers may be able to use such data to assess the risk associated with any given driver and subsequently calculate an appropriate insurance premium befitting of the driver’s behavior. For example, drivers who are shown to accelerate gradually, break gently, and change lanes smoothly might be provided with lower premiums and additional benefits as compared to drivers who accelerate rapidly, brake forcefully, and change lanes abruptly.

“Often times, the premium discounts and rewards generated in response to telematics data indicating safe driving behavior are impactful for both the insured driver and insurance provider. From the insured driver’s perspective, the financial incentives provide strong motivation to abide by safe driving procedures. From that of the insurance provider, encouraging and rewarding safe driving habits helps reduce the likelihood of accidents and the potential costs of submitted claims.

“The integrity of the above mentioned relationship is contingent on the legitimacy of the telematics data provided by the telematics device. If the vehicle data provided by the telematics device is adulterated in any way, shape, or form, the justification behind providing premium discounts and rewards is nullified. However, the use of intermediate “smoothing” devices in conjunction with telematics devices has become increasingly prevalent. Such smoothing devices have been shown to regulate and alter the end data provided by the vehicle to the telematics device in such a manner as to, in at least some examples, misrepresent the driving behavior of drivers. For example, smoothing devices may be placed in an intermediary position between a vehicle data port and the telematics device so as to modify and lessen key vehicle data such as vehicle speed, acceleration, and brake force favorably for the driver.

“In light of the above, there is a considerable need for systems and methods to protect, authenticate, and verify vehicle measurement data provided by telematics devices.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an exhaustive overview of the disclosure. It is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit or constrain the detailed description. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Aspects of the disclosure address one or more of the issues mentioned above by disclosing methods, computer readable storage media, software, systems and apparatuses for protecting, authenticating, and verifying vehicle measurement and/or operational data provided by telematics devices. In at least some examples described herein, a telematics device may be used to receive a data stream comprising vehicle performance and/or operational data. An additional device such as a mobile device may be used to record an additional set of vehicle performance and/or operational data. The two sets of vehicle performance and/or operational data may be transmitted to a computing device and compared to determine the authenticity of the vehicle performance and/or operational data provided by the telematics device.

“In other aspects of the present disclosure, the computing device may determine the authenticity of the data stream, for example, by determining whether the data stream comprises a watermark. The computing device, upon determining that the data stream comprises the watermark, may then authenticate and verify the watermark.

“In some aspects of the disclosure, the watermark may be a data code inserted into the data stream in a predetermined location and, the computing device, in response to determining that the data stream comprises the data code in the predetermined location, may further determine whether the data code matches an authenticity code. In other aspects of the disclosure, the watermark may be a data key inserted into the data stream in a predetermined location and, the computing device, in response to determining that the data stream comprises the data key in the predetermined location, may further determine whether the data key is of a predetermined type and magnitude.

“The details of these and other aspects of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and descriptions below. Other features and advantages of aspects of the disclosure may be apparent from the descriptions and drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system, comprising: a telematics device located in a vehicle and configured to record real-time vehicle measurement data; and a computing device configured to: receive, from the telematics device, a data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data; determine whether a watermark is included in a predetermined location in the data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data by: determining whether the data stream includes a data key in the predetermined location, wherein the data key corresponds to a data type and a data magnitude associated with the data type, and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data key in the predetermined location, determining if the data type of the data key matches a predetermined data type and if the data magnitude of the data key matches a predetermined magnitude, wherein the data type comprises an engine temperature, an engine RPM, a vehicle velocity, a vehicle acceleration, or an applied brake force; and in response to determining that the watermark is not in the predetermined location, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the real-time vehicle measurement data comprises at least one of engine temperature, engine RPM, vehicle velocity, vehicle acceleration, applied brake force, interior vehicle temperature, exterior vehicle temperature, window displacement, exterior vehicle barometric pressure, exhaust pressure, vehicle emissions, turbo blower pressure, turbo charger RPM, or vehicle GPS location.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to determine whether the data stream includes the watermark in the predetermined location by: determining whether the data stream includes a data code in the predetermined location, wherein information for identifying the predetermined location is stored in a memory of the computing device; and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data code in the predetermined location, determining if the data code matches an authenticity code stored in the memory of the computing device.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the data code is a character, an integer, a sequence of characters and/or integers, or a Fibonacci sequence.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined location comprises a predetermined periodic location, a predetermined aperiodic location, or a random location.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to: in response to determining that the watermark is in the predetermined location: determine whether the watermark is authentic; and in response to determining that the watermark is inauthentic, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic.

“7. The system of claim 6, wherein the computing device is further configured to, in response to determining that the watermark is authentic, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as authentic.

“8. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive, from a telematics device located in a vehicle and configured to record real-time vehicle measurement data, a data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data; determine whether a watermark is included in a predetermined location in the data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data by: determining whether the data stream includes a data key in the predetermined location, wherein the data key corresponds to a data type and a data magnitude associated with the data type, and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data key in the predetermined location, determining if the data type of the data key matches a predetermined data type and if the data magnitude of the data key matches a predetermined magnitude, wherein the data type comprises an engine temperature, an engine RPM, a vehicle velocity, a vehicle acceleration, or an applied brake force; and in response to determining that the watermark is not in the predetermined location, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic.

“9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the real-time vehicle measurement data comprises at least one of engine temperature, engine RPM, vehicle velocity, vehicle acceleration, applied brake force, interior vehicle temperature, exterior vehicle temperature, window displacement, exterior vehicle barometric pressure, exhaust pressure, vehicle emissions, turbo blower pressure, turbo charger RPM, or vehicle GPS location.

“10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine whether the data stream includes the watermark in the predetermined location further by: determining whether the data stream includes a data code in the predetermined location, wherein information for identifying the predetermined location is stored in the memory; and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data code in the predetermined location, determining if the data code matches an authenticity code stored in the memory.

“11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the data code is a character, an integer, a sequence of characters and/or integers, or a Fibonacci sequence.

“12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the predetermined location comprises a predetermined periodic location, a predetermined aperiodic location, or a random location.

“13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: in response to determining that the watermark is in the predetermined location: determine whether the watermark is authentic; in response to determining that the watermark is inauthentic, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic; and in response to determining that the watermark is authentic, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as authentic.

“14. One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to: receive, from a telematics device located in a vehicle and configured to record real-time vehicle measurement data, a data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data; determine whether a watermark is included in a predetermined location in the data stream of the real-time vehicle measurement data by: determining whether the data stream includes a data key in the predetermined location, wherein the data key corresponds to a data type and a data magnitude associated with the data type, and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data key in the predetermined location, determining if the data type of the data key matches a predetermined data type and if the data magnitude of the data key matches a predetermined magnitude, wherein the data type comprises an engine temperature, an engine RPM, a vehicle velocity, a vehicle acceleration, or an applied brake force; and in response to determining that the watermark is not in the predetermined location, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic.

“15. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the real-time vehicle measurement data comprises at least one of engine temperature, engine RPM, vehicle velocity, vehicle acceleration, applied brake force, interior vehicle temperature, exterior vehicle temperature, window displacement, exterior vehicle barometric pressure, exhaust pressure, vehicle emissions, turbo blower pressure, turbo charger RPM, or vehicle GPS location.

“16. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device, further cause the computing device to determine whether the data stream includes the watermark in the predetermined location by: determining whether the data stream includes a data code in the predetermined location, wherein information for identifying the predetermined location is stored in a memory of the computing device; and in response to determining that the data stream includes the data code in the predetermined location, determining if the data code matches an authenticity code stored in the memory of the computing device.

“17. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the data code is a character, an integer, a sequence of characters and/or integers, or a Fibonacci sequence.

“18. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the predetermined location is a predetermined periodic location, a predetermined aperiodic location, or a random location.

“19. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to: determine expected manufacturer thresholds for vehicle parts of the vehicle; compare the real-time vehicle measurement data to the expected manufacturer thresholds to determine whether one or more of the vehicle parts have been modified; determine whether the one or more of the vehicle parts have been modified based on whether the real-time vehicle measurement data deviates from the expected manufacturer thresholds by more than a predetermined amount; and in response to determining that the one or more of the vehicle parts have been modified, mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic.

“20. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to mark the real-time vehicle measurement data as inauthentic, in response to determining that the watermark is included in a location other than the predetermined location.”

For more information, see this patent application: Slusar, Mark V. Telematics Authentication. Filed May 20, 2022 and posted November 3, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220351557%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220351557&RS=DN/20220351557

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