The settlement comes after a New York Times The investigation found that GM collected micro-details about its customers’ driving habits, including acceleration, braking and trip duration, then sold them to insurance companies and third-party data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk. Distraught vehicle owners then wondered why their insurance premiums were increasing.
For example, one consumer told a GM customer service representative, “When I signed up for this program, it was so OnStar could track me. They didn’t say anything about reporting it to a third party. Nothing. (…) You affect our results. I pay you, now you’re making me pay my insurance company more.
“I pay you, now you’re making me pay my insurance company more.”
The FTC accused GM of using a “deceptive registration process” to trick vehicle owners into signing up for its OnStar connected vehicle service and Smart Driver feature. The automaker did not disclose to customers that it was collecting their data, nor did GM seek their consent to sell it to third parties. After the Times After exposing this practice, GM said it was discontinuing its OnStar Smart Driver program.
“GM monitored and sold precise geolocation data and driver behavior information, sometimes every three seconds,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a statement. “With this action, the FTC is protecting Americans’ privacy and protecting people from unchecked surveillance.”
The settlement also requires GM to obtain consent from customers before collecting their data on their driving behavior, and allows them to request and delete their data if they choose.
