GM Pays 220 Million Dollars to 36 US States: Data on How You Drive Was Ending Up With Insurers

General Motors will pay 220 million dollars (about 190 million euros) to settle a lawsuit brought by a coalition of attorneys general from 36 US states. The charge: the car giant illegally sold data on how and where its customers drive to data brokers, who then resold it to insurance companies.

The data came from Smart Driver, a free feature in GM's connected-car apps that tracked and scored driving, including whether the driver buckled up. More than two years ago, the New York Times revealed that GM and its OnStar service had sold precise locations and driving habits to third parties, including brokers LexisNexis and Verisk. The brokers resold the data to insurers, which could affect what drivers pay for insurance.

GM scrapped the feature in 2024, but that didn't stop the legal proceedings. In January, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final order banning GM and OnStar from sharing certain consumer data. The new settlement is in line with that agreement and an earlier one with California: GM must get the driver's express consent before collecting or sharing driving and location data. On top of that, compliance will be checked by an independent third party.

GM's defence is brief. "This agreement relates to Smart Driver, a product we discontinued in 2024," the company said. It now promises it will no longer sell data that can be linked to a specific person, a vehicle's location or a driving style. Anonymised data, however, it can still share with certain partners - which ones, it doesn't say. That's the sentence worth reading twice.

The settlement comes just as cars are becoming computers on wheels. GM is adding a personal AI assistant to OnStar, its 30-year-old safety and roadside assistance service. The car's cameras will provide live video and crash footage, and drivers will control the air conditioning by voice and ask questions about the vehicle. GM says the footage is encrypted, kept for a limited time, and that neither the company nor OnStar has access to it. But anyone who won't share data will most likely get fewer features.

So the driver's choice will be privacy or a car with all the bells and whistles. And after the Smart Driver case, what's the promise worth that this time the consent will be real?