Location Tracking: Health insurance company was tracking patient's Google location, court reprimanded it..

Vallabh Motka of Gujarat had taken a mediclaim policy of Rs 6.5 lakh from Go Digit General Insurance. In September 2024, he had to be hospitalized due to viral pneumonia. After treatment, he filed a claim of Rs 48,251, but the insurance company rejected it.

The reason given by the company for rejecting the claim was that Motka's Google timeline did not match his claim of hospitalization. That is, on the days when he claims to be hospitalized, the address of the hospital is not visible in his Google location history. Motka appealed against this decision to the consumer forum, where the forum directed the insurance company to pay the full claim, and Motka got relief.

The forum gave the verdict.
The consumer forum, while giving its verdict in the case of Vallabh Motka, said that unless Google officials themselves confirm the data in court, the timeline has no legal validity. The decision is in line with Section 63 of the Indian Evidence Act, according to which electronic evidence is admissible only if it is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. In this case, Go Digit had relied on Google Timeline data without any authentication. The forum said that the authenticity of the data will be proved only when Google itself verifies that data.

The insurance company put forth its side.

A spokesperson for Go Digit Insurance said that they had obtained the Google Timeline data only after proper consent from the victim. However, the company also said that the claim was not rejected on the basis of Google Timeline alone. During the investigation, many irregularities were found by the patient, such as discrepancies in hospital records and bills. However, the company spokesperson said that we respect the decision of the forum and will take further steps.

Can insurance companies use your Google history?

If we look at the laws, insurance companies cannot use the Google location history of a policyholder without their explicit and informed consent. It can be challenged under Article 21 (Right to Privacy) of the Constitution of India and the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) works to make laws related to the insurance sector in the country. The current rules of IRDAI also do not allow the use of geolocation or mobile tracking to verify health insurance claims. Claims can be evaluated on the basis of standard evidence such as hospital records, discharge summaries, and a doctor's certificate, and not on the basis of digital surveillance.

Insurance companies take advantage of the gray zone.

According to legal experts, IRDAI's rules are not completely clear on this subject. Due to which insurance companies take advantage of the regulatory ambiguous rules (Grey Zone). Some experts believe that insurance companies can collect information for investigation, but it is not clear whether this includes smartphone tracking or not. Due to this ambiguity, such cases may come up in the future as well.

What digital data can insurance companies use?
This does not mean that insurance companies cannot access any digital data. They can obtain information from hospital information systems, such as admission logs and CCTV footage, by following the right procedures and obtaining the necessary permissions. Also, data from wearable devices can be used if mentioned in the policy and the customer agrees.

However, insurance companies cannot legally demand live GPS feeds, call-detail records, emails or private chats, as these do not fall under IRDAI's "minimum information" norms. However, information publicly available on social media can also be collected without consent.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Amar Ujala. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.