General Motors has agreed to a $220 million settlement over its handling of driver data.
General Motors will pay $220 million and tighten data protections to resolve a lawsuit from 35 US states and the District of Columbia.
The GM privacy settlement will cost General Motors $220 million over its handling of customers’ driving data. The agreement resolves a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 35 US states and the District of Columbia.
The case concerns GM’s OnStar Smart Driver programme, which tracked driving habits between 2016 and 2024. Attorneys general said the company sold customers’ information for insurance purposes without their permission.
Drivers faced tracking without clear consent
Smart Driver recorded behaviour including hard braking, speeding and late-night driving. GM then sold that information to data brokers for insurance use, and insurers raised some drivers’ premiums based on it.
However, attorneys general said GM did not tell customers their information would serve that purpose. Many drivers also did not know they had joined the programme.
The company offered dealerships bonuses to enrol as many customers as possible. In some cases, dealership employees allegedly accepted the programme’s terms on customers’ behalf without their express permission.
Meanwhile, more than 370,000 drivers received incorrect assurances that they had not enrolled, the attorneys general said. GM eventually removed them from the programme, but did not notify them of the mistake and still sold their data. The officials described the information as personal, identifiable and specific to individual drivers.
GM privacy settlement requires stronger safeguards
Under the agreement, GM must limit the driving data it collects and protect customers’ personal information. It must also undergo mandatory internal and external assessments of its data protection and privacy programmes.
In addition, the settlement requires dealership oversight and further training. Those measures accompany the $220 million payment resolving the states’ legal action over the Smart Driver programme.
The agreement also follows federal action over the same issue. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission barred GM from sharing certain consumer data with third parties for five years.
Separately, GM reached a $12.75 million settlement with California in May. That agreement and the federal restrictions form part of the wider legal fallout from its handling of driver information.
