GM agrees to pay $12.75M in California driver privacy settlement
Source: TechCrunch
Background
In 2024, The New York Times reported that automakers, including GM, were sharing information about customers’ driving behavior with insurance companies, prompting concerns that insurance rates had risen as a result. The settlement announcement from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office alleges that GM sold “the names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians” to data brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. According to the Attorney General, this data was collected through GM’s OnStar program, generating roughly $20 million in sales.
Bonta’s office also noted that the data did not lead to increased insurance prices in California, likely because state insurance laws prohibit insurers from using driving data to set rates.
Settlement Terms
- GM will pay $12.75 million in civil penalties.
- GM will cease selling driving data to any consumer‑reporting agencies for five years.
- GM must delete any driver data it still retains within 180 days (unless it obtains customer consent) and must request that LexisNexis and Verisk delete the data as well.
“General Motors sold the data of California drivers without their knowledge or consent and despite numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so,” Bonta said. “The settlement requires General Motors to abandon these illegal practices and underscores the importance of data minimization in California’s privacy law—companies can’t just hold on to data and use it later for another purpose.”
Prior FTC Settlement
GM previously settled with the Federal Trade Commission over its data‑sharing practices. That final order banned General Motors and OnStar from selling certain data to consumer‑reporting agencies.
GM’s Statement
GM told Reuters that the settlement “addresses Smart Driver, a product we discontinued in 2024, and reinforces steps we’ve taken to strengthen our privacy practices.”