GM settles claims over sharing drivers’ location and behavior data with insurers
Driving habits for sale. General Motors now has to pay the bill.
General Motors. By Shutterstock
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- GM agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims that it unlawfully shared drivers’ data.
- A coalition of 35 US states said GM sold names, contact details, locations, and driving behavior to data brokers.
- Insurers used the data to market insurance products and adjust premiums based on driving habits.
- GM must get drivers’ consent before collecting or sharing driving behavior and location data.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Car manufacturer General Motors (GM) has reached a $220 million settlement for unlawfully collecting and sharing data on millions of drivers’ private driving behavior and locations with third parties.
From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of motorists in their Smart Driver program. GM promoted the program as a way for drivers to improve their own safety, and it assured them their data wouldn’t be shared with other companies.
However, a coalition of 35 US states found that GM sold private and sensitive information to data brokers, including motorists’ names, contact information, location data, and driving behavior.
In turn, data brokers passed this information onto insurance companies to boost the sale of insurance products and change the driver’s premium based on their driving habits. GM didn’t inform drivers that their data was being sold for this purpose.
In many cases, dealership employees allegedly accepted terms and conditions on customers' behalf without their consent. Employees at dealerships were heavily incentivized to sign up as many customers as possible, receiving bonuses based on the number of customers they signed up for GM’s connected vehicle services.
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On top of that, the data GM sold was personal, identifiable, and specific. For example, insurers had data on how many times a person drove their vehicle, the start and end times of each drive, how many times they braked or accelerated quickly, and whether they exceeded the speed limit.
“Drivers were enrolled in data tracking without their knowledge. My office will continue to enforce Arizona’s consumer protection laws to ensure companies respect the privacy of the people they serve,” Attorney General Kris Mayes of the state of Arizona responded to the settlement.
The car manufacturer has agreed to pay $220 million to settle the case, of which Arizona will receive $5.9 million. In addition, GM has been ordered to gather drivers’ consent before collecting or disclosing data on consumer driving behavior and location.
In January 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that GM is prohibited from selling drivers’ location and driving behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for 5 years.
In May, the state of California and GM reached a $12.75 million settlement over the sale of the names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians to two data brokers.
