GM to pay $220 million to settle allegations it violated drivers' privacy

General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations that it sold drivers' private driving-behavior and location data to data brokers, who then sold it to insurance companies, according to state attorneys general who announced the settlement on Thursday.

A bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general took part in the case, which was co-led by Washington and Oregon.

From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program, which tracked how often a vehicle was driven, the start and end times of each trip, hard braking and rapid acceleration, and speeding. GM pitched the program as a way for drivers to improve their safety and told them it would not share their data with insurers without express consent, the attorneys general said.

The states' investigation found that GM sold the data to brokers under contracts specifying it was for insurance products. The brokers sold it to insurers, who could use it to change drivers' premiums. GM did not disclose that drivers' data would be sold for this purpose, according to the states.

Most customers signed up for Smart Driver at a GM dealership when they bought a car, through a single enrollment process shared with GM's OnStar service. In many cases, dealership employees allegedly accepted terms on customers' behalf without their consent. Connecticut said more than 10.28 million Americans were affected.

The OnStar app also mistakenly told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they were, the states said. GM later unenrolled those drivers without telling them about the error.

Under the settlement, GM must obtain affirmative express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data, limit the driving data it collects, maintain a comprehensive data privacy program with internal and third-party assessments, and implement oversight and training at its dealerships.

New York will receive about $12.05 million, Washington $12.3 million and Connecticut more than $6 million. GM discontinued Smart Driver after The New York Times reported on the practice.

The Federal Trade Commission settled with GM in January 2025; that settlement included limited injunctive relief and no monetary payment. Several consumer class actions remain pending, Connecticut said.