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← Signal: Tech & AI

Miles Plug offers teen driver monitoring without data sales, at $99 upfront plus $180 annual membership

Confirmed1 source · Oct 19, 2026

A new OBD-II device tracks vehicle location and driving behavior for families while explicitly refusing to sell driver data, a contrast to automakers' data monetization practices.

Miles Plug offers teen driver monitoring without data sales, at $99 upfront plus $180 annual membership
Image via The Verge

What happened

Miles Labs launched the Miles Plug, a $99 cellular and GPS-enabled device that connects to a car's OBD-II port to monitor location, driving habits, vehicle health, crash detection, and roadside assistance. The device pairs with an app offering real-time alerts, driving insights (speeding, hard braking), and an AI chatbot that decodes warning lights and estimates repair costs. Membership costs $180 per year ($15/month) or $396 for three years ($11/month), paid upfront with no auto-renewal. Co-founders Matt McGovren and Kit Klein, both experienced in smart home products (Wink, Amazon Ring and Blink, Ubiquiti), explicitly committed to not selling vehicle, trip, or location data; the app contains no ads and data is encrypted, with location tied to the car rather than the phone. The service is compatible with most gas and hybrid cars from 2008 onward and some EVs.

Context

The product targets teen drivers and their parents by consolidating services—roadside assistance, family tracking, and vehicle diagnostics—typically purchased separately at higher monthly costs. McGovren positions this as a response to automakers' data monetization practices, noting GM was banned from selling driving data to brokers for five years. The business model addresses a historical failure: startup Automatic launched a similar OBD-II device in 2016 without a subscription, shut down in 2020. McGovren attributes Automatic's failure to relying on eventual monetization rather than upfront payments, a lesson both founders learned from Wink's bankruptcy. The premium on data privacy and explicit no-sale commitment reflects growing consumer concern about vehicle data collection.