General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 36 state attorneys general, who alleged the company unlawfully sold drivers’ location and driving-behavior data to outside parties, including data brokers that passed it to insurers. Washington’s attorney general, who co-led the case with Oregon, says Washington will receive $12.3 million. The settlement requires GM to obtain affirmative express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data, to limit the driving data it collects, and to run a comprehensive privacy program with internal and external assessments.
The attorneys general say that from 2016 to 2024 GM enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program, pitched as a safety tool, while telling them their data would not be shared with insurers without express consent. The investigation found the data was sold to brokers under contracts that specified use in insurance products; insurers could then adjust premiums based on braking, acceleration, speeding and trip times. Most customers signed up at dealerships, where, the AGs say, employees sometimes accepted terms on customers’ behalf and were rewarded for enrollment numbers. The OnStar app also wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled, and GM later unenrolled them without telling them, leaving the data with brokers and insurers. GM ended Smart Driver in 2024 after the New York Times exposed the practice; a spokesperson said the agreement covers a product it discontinued and reinforces privacy steps it has taken. A separate Texas lawsuit over the same conduct is still ongoing, according to The Record.
This follows GM’s earlier settlement with California (see our May post); the Washington attorney general says the new terms are significantly stronger than any other resolution reached with GM for this conduct.
Sources
- Washington Attorney General: GM to pay $220M for sharing drivers’ private data in case co-led by Washington
- The Record: GM settles with 36 states for selling driver data, agrees to $220 million fine and reforms
- The New York Times, April 2024 report on the practice (linked from The Record; not read directly)