Methods of theft prevention or mitigation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10974693-B1
Application number	US-202016843517-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 8, 2020
Priority date	Jul 21, 2014
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

In system and methods for theft prevention or mitigation, driver-related data associated with one or more authorized drivers of an insured vehicle may be collected over time. The authorized drivers and the insured vehicle may be covered by an insurance policy issued by an insurance provider. Based upon the collected driver-related data, a database associated with the authorized drivers may be built. Current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle may be collected. It may be determined, using both the database and the current driver-related data, that the individual is not among the authorized drivers. A disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle may be caused, and/or the individual may be caused to be prevented from starting or otherwise operating the insured vehicle, to facilitate preventing or mitigating theft of the insured vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of vehicle theft prevention or mitigation, the method comprising:
collecting, by one or more processors, authorized driver-related data associated with one or more authorized drivers of a vehicle, wherein the authorized driver-related data includes telematics data regarding movements of the vehicle by the one or more authorized drivers over a period of time including multiple vehicle trips;
collecting, by the one or more processors, current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving the vehicle, wherein the current driver-related data includes telematics data regarding current movements of the vehicle by the individual currently driving the vehicle;
determining, by the one or more processors, that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle based upon (i) the authorized driver-related data and (ii) the current driver-related data;
upon determining that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle, verifying, by the one or more processors, that the individual currently driving is not one of the one or more authorized drivers based upon additional data; and
causing, by the one or more processors, operation of the vehicle to be disabled in response to determining that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the additional data is associated with (a) physical characteristics of the one or more authorized drivers, or (b) mobile devices associated with the one or more authorized drivers.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the physical characteristics of the one or more authorized drivers include one or more of the following: visual images or weights of the one or more authorized drivers.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the telematics data is at least associated with acceleration, braking, and cornering behavior associated with the movements of the vehicle by the one or more authorized drivers.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising, upon determining that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle:
presenting, via a mobile device associated with an owner of the vehicle or associated with the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle, a notification of a potential unauthorized use of the vehicle; and
receiving, via the mobile device, a verification that the potential unauthorized use of the vehicle is an unauthorized use of the vehicle,
wherein causing operation of the vehicle to be disabled occurs in response to receiving the verification.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: tracking one or more GPS locations of the vehicle; and
transmitting a present GPS location of the one or more GPS locations of the vehicle to one or more of the following: a mobile device associated with one of the one or more authorized drivers or a third party remote server.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein causing operation of the vehicle to be disabled includes controlling the vehicle to slow, stop at a side of a road, and shut down.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is covered by an insurance policy issued by an insurance provider and the authorized drivers are drivers authorized under the insurance policy.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the telematics data includes collecting telematics data regarding the movements of the vehicle from one or more mobile devices associated with the one or more authorized drivers.

10. A system for vehicle theft prevention or mitigation, the system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
collect authorized driver-related data associated with an authorized driver of a vehicle, wherein the authorized driver-related data includes telematics data regarding movements of the vehicle by the authorized driver over a period of time including multiple vehicle trips;
collect current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving the vehicle, wherein the current driver-related data includes telematics data regarding current movements of the vehicle by the individual currently driving the vehicle;
determine that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the authorized driver of the vehicle based upon (i) the authorized driver-related data, and (ii) the current driver-related data;
upon determining that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the authorized driver of the vehicle, verify that the individual currently driving is not the authorized driver based upon additional data; and

cause operation of the vehicle to be disabled in response to a determination that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not one of the one or more authorized drivers of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the additional data is associated with
(a) physical characteristics of the authorized driver, or (b) a mobile device associated with the authorized driver.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the telematics data is associated with acceleration, braking, and cornering behavior associated with the movements of the vehicle by the authorized driver.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to, upon determining that the individual currently driving the vehicle is not the authorized driver of the vehicle:
transmit a notification of a potential unauthorized use of the vehicle to a mobile device associated with an owner of the vehicle or associated with the authorized driver of the vehicle for presentation; and
receive a verification that the potential unauthorized use of the vehicle is an unauthorized use of the vehicle from the mobile device,
wherein the executable instructions that cause operation of the vehicle to be disabled further include executable instructions that cause operation of the vehicle to be disabled in response to receiving the verification of the unauthorized use of the vehicle.

14. The system of claim 10 , where in the executable instructions that cause operation of the vehicle to be disabled further cause the computer system to control the vehicle to slow, stop at a side of a road, and shut down.

15. The system of claim 10 , further comprising one or more mobile devices associated with the one or more authorized drivers, wherein the one or more mobile devices are configured to generate the telematics data regarding the movements of the vehicle.

16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for vehicle theft prevention or mitigation that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:
collect authorized driver-related data associated with an authorized driver of a vehicle, wherein the authorized driver-related data includes telematics data regarding movements of the vehicle by the authorized driver over a period of time including multiple vehicle trips;
collect current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving the vehicle, wherein the current driver-related data includes telematics data regarding current movements of the v

Assignees

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

Inventors

• Potter Thomas Michael
• Clauss Mark E
• Carter Dustin Ryan
• Graff Douglas Albert
• Baumann Megan Michal
• Bonnom Atlanta
• Cope Craig
• Lawyer Jennifer Luella
• Simpson Curtis
• Baumann Nathan W

Classifications

• B60R25/102 Primary

  a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner · CPC title

• B60W40/08

  related to drivers or passengers · CPC title

• B60W40/09

  Driving style or behaviour · CPC title

• B60R25/04 Primary

  operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor · CPC title

• G08B25/00

  Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems · CPC title