General Motors has settled a privacy-related matter with a coalition of law enforcement agencies led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. In 2024, The New York Times reported that GM and other carmakers were sharing customer driving behavior data with insurance companies, causing concerns about rising insurance rates. Bonta’s office announced that GM sold the personal and driving data of hundreds of thousands of Californians to data brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions through the OnStar program, earning about $20 million. However, it did not result in higher insurance rates in California due to state laws prohibiting the use of driving data for setting insurance prices.
As part of the settlement, GM agreed to pay $12.75 million in penalties and stop selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. GM will also delete retained driver data within 180 days unless consent is given and will request data deletion from Lexis and Verisk. Bonta emphasized that GM sold this data without driver consent, violating California’s privacy laws, and must cease these practices. Previously, GM had settled with the Federal Trade Commission over similar data sales issues. GM informed Reuters that the settlement pertains to their discontinued Smart Driver product from 2024 and highlights their efforts to enhance privacy practices.