[mdhardeman]

The other respondents to this message more or less have it right.

The way this stuff works is that when GEICO signed the deal to get access to this, they pinky-swore in a contract to only use the data certain ways.

Often, the representatives on both sides of such transactions even have a wink-wink nod-nod deal going which is different from what the contract materially represents.

Importantly, these contracts virtually always avoid talking about mechanisms for tracking such usage, auditing such usage, and even any remedies for violations (beyond discontinuing the service access - and then only if it's egregious).

You'd be amazed how much in the telecom world is handshake and contractual with no technological enforcement and often neither side of these agreements are incentivized to enforce the terms laid out.

The parts of these agreements that are solid is how transactions, events, etc are measured and what these cost and who pays and how. Shocking, that.

[forapurpose]

> when GEICO signed the deal to get access to this, they pinky-swore in a contract to only use the data certain ways.

Like Cambridge Analytica's deal with Facebook.

[facetube]

Exactly. Telcos recover damages, the products (read: users) who were damaged get nothing.