Feds Ban General Motors from Selling Your Data

The US Federal Trade Commission has banned General Motors from selling sensitive driver data. The agency alleges that the automaker and its OnStar service collected and sold precious geolocation and driving behavior data without obtaining proper consent, and now it can’t sell it to consumer reporting agencies for five years.

“GM monitored and sold people’s precise geolocation data and driver behavior information, sometimes as often as every three seconds,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement announcing the consent agreement. “With this action, the FTC is safeguarding Americans’ privacy and protecting people from unchecked surveillance.”

The Detroit-based automaker has already made several changes to its data policies, according to a press release issued Friday. It discontinued its Smart Driver program and unenrolled all its customers in April 2024 after The New York Times reported GM was sharing personal driving information with insurance companies.

General Motors also ended its relationships with LexisNexis and Verisk last year. In September, it consolidated many of its privacy policies into a single, simpler document.

According to the FTC’s allegations, GM failed to inform consumers about what types of information it collected, like speeding and hard braking, that could be sold to consumer reporting agencies. These agencies then allegedly compiled reports on the consumers that insurance companies used to raise rates.

The order also stipulates that GM must now “obtain affirmative customer consent to collect, use, or disclose certain types of connected vehicle data” and allow customers to disable the collection of their vehicle’s precise location. It will also have to provide a way for customers to access and delete their data, which GM says it’s already doing through an expanded privacy program in all 50 states.

Automakers have been under increased scrutiny from state and federal regulators regarding their data collection policies. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued GM in August, accusing the automaker of tricking consumers into sharing their data with the automaker. Paxton has also sued Allstate Insurance for similar conduct.

You can read the full order right here.