GM Will Pay $220 Million Over Allegations It Sold Drivers' Braking and Speeding Data to Brokers; Massachusetts Gets $5.7 Million

General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations by 36 attorneys general that it sold drivers' behavior and location data to third parties, including data brokers who resold it to insurance companies, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell's office announced Thursday. Massachusetts will receive $5.7 million.

The settlement also requires GM to obtain "affirmative express consent" from consumers before collecting or disclosing driving and location data, according to the attorney general's announcement. The allegations are the coalition's; the release describes them as alleged violations, and GM's response was not included in the announcement.

"Massachusetts drivers deserve to know their personal information and driving history will be protected and not sold to entities that could exploit it," Campbell said in the release. "This settlement requires GM to make significant improvements to its data use, disclosure, and transparency practices to protect consumers' personal identifying information moving forward."

According to the attorneys general, GM enrolled millions of drivers from 2016 to 2024 in a program called Smart Driver, which tracked driving habits. GM pitched it as a way for drivers to improve their own safety and told them it would not share their data with insurers without express consent, the release says.

The coalition found that GM instead sold the information to data brokers under contracts specifying that it was to be used for insurance products, according to the announcement. The brokers then sold the data to insurance companies, which could change a driver's premium based on driving habits. GM did not disclose to drivers that their data would be used this way, the attorneys general said.

The data was specific. Insurers had information showing how many times a person drove, the start and end times of each trip, how many times the driver braked or accelerated quickly, and whether the driver exceeded the speed limit, the release says. Insurers used the information to change rates, sometimes raising premiums, according to the coalition.

Most drivers signed up for Smart Driver at the dealership when they bought their car, the attorneys general said. GM used a single sign-up process for Smart Driver and its OnStar services, and in many cases dealership employees allegedly accepted the terms on customers' behalf without their consent. At the time, GM was heavily incentivizing dealerships to enroll customers in OnStar. Sales employees received bonuses based in part on how many customers they signed up for connected vehicle services, and dealerships were ranked by enrollment numbers, according to the release.

The coalition also alleged that the OnStar app mistakenly told 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they actually were, while GM continued collecting and selling their data. GM later quietly unenrolled those drivers without telling them about the mistake, leaving their data with the brokers and insurers, according to the attorneys general.

GM discontinued Smart Driver after The New York Times reported on the practices, the release says.

For drivers, the most concrete change is the consent requirement. Under the settlement as described by the attorney general, GM must get a driver's affirmative, express agreement before it collects or discloses that driver's driving and location data, rather than relying on terms accepted at the dealership. The release does not say whether insurers that bought the data must delete it or reverse rate changes.

Beyond the payment, the settlement requires GM to limit the driving data it collects and to protect personal information through a comprehensive data privacy program, including internal and external assessments. GM also agreed to oversight and training requirements at dealerships to keep customers from being enrolled in data collection without their consent.

The Massachusetts share works out to about 2.6% of the total. The release did not say how the state will use the money or whether any of it will go directly to affected drivers. The case was handled for Massachusetts by Assistant Attorney General Camy Ruck of the office's Privacy and Responsible Technology Division.

The coalition includes attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, according to the release.

Drivers with questions can contact the attorney general's office at 617-727-2200. Still unknown: how Massachusetts will spend its $5.7 million and whether drivers whose premiums rose will see any restitution.