GM Agrees to Pay $220 Million in Case Over Hidden Driver Data Sales

General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle allegations that it secretly gathered drivers’ location data and driving behavior, then sold that information to data brokers that passed it on to insurance companies for use in setting rates, officials said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was part of a bipartisan group of 36 attorneys general that reached the deal, ending an investigation into the automaker’s data practices that stretched across nearly a decade.

Michigan is set to receive about $7.2 million under the settlement. The agreement does not provide direct refunds or restitution to individual drivers, although a separate nationwide class-action lawsuit seeking cash damages is still moving forward.

Investigators said GM enrolled millions of motorists in its “Smart Driver” feature from 2016 to 2024. The company promoted the tool as a way to help customers improve their driving, and told them their information would not be shared with insurers unless they gave explicit permission.

According to the coalition, GM instead sold the detailed records to data brokers under arrangements that identified the information as intended for insurance use. The brokers then resold the profiles to insurers, who used them to assess risk and adjust coverage costs.

The data reportedly included trip frequency, start and end times, hard braking, rapid acceleration and speeding. Insurers allegedly relied on those metrics to increase premiums for some drivers.

Many motorists were enrolled without knowing it when they purchased vehicles at GM dealerships, where sales staff had incentives to register as many customers as possible for OnStar services. In some cases, dealership employees accepted terms and service agreements on behalf of buyers without informing them.

Technical problems also concealed the tracking from owners. The OnStar mobile app incorrectly told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in Smart Driver, even while GM continued collecting and selling their trip logs. When the company discovered the software mistake, it quietly removed those drivers from the program without notifying them, leaving previously collected data with outside brokers and insurers.

GM ended the Smart Driver program after reporting by The New York Times brought the tracking practices to light.

“Drivers deserve to know what information about them is being collected and how it may affect their wallets,” Nessel said in a statement. “Discovering after the fact that a company has been tracking and selling their driving data without their consent is unacceptable. This settlement will hold GM accountable for its past conduct and secure meaningful safeguards so drivers have greater control over their information in the future.”

Under the agreement, GM is barred from collecting or sharing driving or location data without obtaining clear, affirmative consent first. The company must also establish a broader privacy program, conduct regular internal and external data audits, limit how much driving data it keeps, and require dealership training aimed at preventing unauthorized enrollments.

The coalition includes attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, 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.