General Motors will pay $220 million to 36 states and the District of Columbia to settle allegations the Detroit-based automaker improperly collected and sold drivers’ personal information. The automaker sold that data to insurance companies, resulting in higher premiums for drivers.
The investigation, led by Washington and Oregon, found that from 2014 to 2024, GM enrolled “millions of drivers” in its Smart Driver program. According to the press release from the Washington Office of the Attorney General, the automaker told drivers it would not share their data with insurers without consent but did so anyway.
Many customers signed up for Smart Driver during the purchase process at a dealership. Dealership employees allegedly enrolled people in the program without their consent at a time when the automaker rewarded sales employees with bonuses based on signups.
The investigation also found that GM’s OnStar app mistakenly told over 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in the Smart Driver program when they were. GM unenrolled those drivers without telling them, while allowing data brokers to retain the data. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said:
‘Washingtonians’ data is personal and valuable, which is why they should always have control over how it’s used. We’re proud to lead this bipartisan agreement holding GM accountable for misusing drivers’ data.’
General Motors has agreed to limit the data it collects on its drivers and protect that information as part of a “comprehensive data privacy program.” The consent decree mandates internal and external data and privacy protection assessments.
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