GM Settles California Driver Data Privacy Case for $12.75 Million
General Motors has agreed to pay $12.75 million in civil penalties to settle a California privacy enforcement action, Benzinga reported Friday. The state alleged the automaker unlawfully sold location and driving data collected through its OnStar platform to third-party data brokers without obtaining customer consent.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the deal, calling it a firm rebuke of practices that left drivers unaware their movement habits were being monetized.
What the Settlement Requires
Beyond the financial penalty, the agreement places significant restrictions on GM’s data practices going forward. The company must halt all sales of driver data to consumer reporting agencies for a period of five years. Any retained data must be deleted within 180 days unless GM secures explicit opt-in consent from customers. GM is also required to formally request that data analytics firms Verisk and LexisNexis purge any previously purchased driver records from their systems.
Bonta said GM had repeatedly reassured drivers it would not share their information, making the conduct a direct breach of consumer trust. The settlement, he added, forces the company to abandon those practices entirely.
GM told Reuters the resolution specifically concerns its Smart Driver program, a product the company discontinued in 2024.
How the Conduct Came to Light
The data-sharing arrangement first drew public attention in a 2024 New York Times investigation. That reporting revealed that insurers were potentially receiving granular behavioral driving scores derived from telematics data, raising concerns about whether customers faced higher premiums as a result. California’s attorney general noted that state insurance regulations likely provided a degree of protection against that outcome for affected residents.
Regulatory Pressure From Two Directions
The California settlement does not arrive in isolation. The Federal Trade Commission had already moved against GM and OnStar separately, issuing an order that barred the companies from selling certain categories of data to consumer reporting agencies. Friday’s state-level agreement adds a financial dimension to those restrictions and layers California-specific data protection requirements on top of the federal mandate.
GM carries a market capitalization of roughly $71 billion. Its shares have gained approximately 66% over the past twelve months, touching a 52-week high of $87.62 before pulling back into a consolidation range.
The settlement underscores growing enforcement appetite among state attorneys general pursuing automakers and connected-vehicle platforms over data monetization practices that consumers rarely read about in the fine print.
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