GM to Pay $220M Over Sale of Driver Data to Insurers
General Motors settled with a 36-state coalition of attorneys general over driving and location data from its Smart Driver program.
General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations that it illegally sold consumers' driver behavior and location data to third parties, including data brokers that resold it to insurance companies. A coalition of 36 attorneys general brought the case.
Washington co-led the coalition with Oregon and will receive $12.3 million through the settlement. The state attorney general's office says insurers could change a driver's premium based on how that person drove, and the deal requires GM to obtain affirmative express consent from consumers before it collects or discloses driving and location data.
What the investigation found
From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program, which tracked driving habits. GM pitched it as a way to improve safety and told drivers it would not share their data with insurers without express consent. The investigation found that GM sold the data to brokers under contracts specifying it would be used for insurance products, and that it never told drivers their data would be sold for that purpose.
Most customers signed up at the dealership when they bought a car. GM used one sign-up process for Smart Driver and OnStar, and dealership employees allegedly accepted the terms on customers' behalf without their consent. Sales staff received bonuses based partly on OnStar sign-ups.
The OnStar app also told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they were. GM later unenrolled them without telling them and left their data with the brokers and insurers.
The data showed how often a person drove, the start and end time of each trip, how often they braked or accelerated hard, and whether they exceeded the speed limit. GM discontinued the program after The New York Times reported on the practice.
Terms of the deal
GM must limit the driving data it collects and run a comprehensive privacy program, with internal and external assessments. It also agreed to oversight and training at its dealerships so customers are not enrolled in data collection without consent.
"Washingtonians' data is personal and valuable, which is why they should always have control over how it's used," said Attorney General Nick Brown.