GM to pay out $12.75M after selling California driver data

Are you a California driver who’s owned a General Motors vehicle — Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac — in the last few years? Did you know your private driving habits might have been sold without your knowledge?

Owing to this breach of privacy, California just hit General Motors with a record privacy penalty to the tune of $12.5 million.

However, those same California drivers are not likely to receive a check in the mail, as this is a civil penalty paid to the state, with no direct consumer payout mentioned in the settlement.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that GM has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle claims it illegally sold the personal and driving data of hundreds of thousands of California drivers to data brokers — despite GM’s own privacy policy reassuring drivers it would not sell their location or driving data.

“General Motors sold the data of California drivers without their ‌knowledge ⁠or consent and despite numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so,” Bonta said in a statement. 

“This trove of information included precise and personal location data that could identify the everyday habits and movements of Californians,” he added.

The California Post reached out to General Motors, who did not immediately return our request for comment.

From 2020 to 2024, GM collected names, contact info, geolocation and driving behavior (think hard braking, acceleration, speed) through its OnStar system — then sold this data on to third-party companies Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, reportedly earning about $20 million in the process. 

Although a 2024 investigation by The New York Times found that GM gathered and sold data pertaining to millions of drivers nationwide — with numerous consumers complaining of spiking insurance premiums, likely as a result of this data breach — GM drivers in California did not see a similar insurance hikes because insurers in the state are prohibited from using driving data to set their rates.

As part of the settlement, subject to court approval, California is also imposing restrictions on the motor company: GM faces a five-year ban on selling consumer driving data to any data brokers and restricting how it uses the data going forward.

In a statement shared with CalMatters, GM rep Charlotte McCoy said, “This agreement addresses Smart Driver, a product we discontinued in 2024, and reinforces steps we’ve taken to strengthen our privacy practices.”

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