GENERAL MOTORS SETTLES DRIVER DATA CLAIMS FOR $220M

General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle allegations by attorneys general from 36 US states that it sold drivers’ location and driving data without their consent. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her state would receive $7,205,319. The coalition alleged that GM supplied the information to data brokers, which then sold it to insurers that used it partly to set premiums. Under the agreement announced on Thursday, GM must obtain drivers’ express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data. The settlement provides no compensation directly to consumers, Nessel said.

The allegations centre on Smart Driver, a feature in GM’s connected vehicle apps that tracked driving behaviour and seat belt use. According to the coalition, the data included journey times, rapid braking and acceleration, and speeding. Data brokers LexisNexis and Verisk received information gathered by GM and OnStar. The coalition said dealership staff sometimes accepted Smart Driver terms for customers without their permission, while GM encouraged dealerships to enrol customers in OnStar between 2016 and 2024. GM ended Smart Driver in 2024 and said the agreement “reinforces steps we’ve taken to strengthen our privacy practices.”

The settlement requires internal and external assessments of GM’s data protection and privacy programme, including a third-party review of compliance. It follows separate agreements with California and the Federal Trade Commission, which finalised an order in January barring GM and OnStar from sharing certain consumer data. GM says it will no longer sell vehicle information linked to an individual, their location or their driving. It may still share anonymised data with certain partners. A nationwide private class action seeking payments for consumers remains pending, Nessel said.