Abstract:
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by 35 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., accuses General Motors of selling driver data to insurance companies. Several state attorneys general involved in the settlement announced the news Thursday.
The lawsuit follows a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general led by Dan Rayfield of Oregon and Nick Brown of Washington. GM did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.
At the heart of the allegations involves GM's Smart Driver program. Customers can opt into the program when purchasing a vehicle at a dealership, which is designed to record their driving safety and encourage safe driving behavior. States accuse GM of selling personal information and driving data to data brokers without telling participating users, who then resold the data to insurance companies.
The data is often personal and contains extremely detailed information about driver behavior, Nick Brown said in a press release announcing the settlement Thursday.
"The data that General Motors (GM) sells is personal, identifiable and very specific. The data held by the insurance company shows how many times a person drives a vehicle, the start and end times of each trip, how often they brake or accelerate hard, and whether they exceed the speed limit," Brown said.
A GM spokesman said the settlement further strengthens the company's existing privacy protections.
The spokesperson said: "This agreement covers Smart Driver - a product we have stopped offering in 2024 - and solidifies the initiatives we have taken to strengthen privacy protection. General Motors is committed to clearly informing users about what information we use, how it is protected, and what choices customers have in sharing their information."
GM said it has simplified its privacy statement for consumers in recent years.
Brown also mentioned that when users tried to see if they were enrolled in the Smart Driver program, General Motors' OnStar app incorrectly reported to more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled - when in fact they were already enrolled in the program.
It was reported in March 2024 that some drivers found that because General Motors provided their driving data, their insurance premiums increased even if they did not have any accidents; some even found it difficult to find an insurance company willing to cover them.
GM has now terminated the program, which began in 2016.
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