GM to pay $12.75 million settlement over alleged sale of California drivers’ data

General Motors has agreed to a $12.75 million settlement with California over allegations that it unlawfully sold drivers’ location and behavioral data to brokers, marking the largest penalty in the history of the state’s Consumer Privacy Act. Prosecutors say GM made approximately $20 million nationwide from the sales. “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. This trove … More → The post General Motors to pay $12.75 million over driver data sales appeared first on Help Net Security.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a proposed $12.75 million settlement agreement with General Motors (GM) over allegations that the company violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). [...]

General Motors has agreed to pay $12.75 million to settle a California data privacy lawsuit that accused the automaker of selling driver location and driver data, as reported earlier by Reuters. In a proposed settlement filed on Friday, GM agreed to stop selling customer information to data brokers for five years and must give California […]

General Motors collected driving data through OnStar and sold it to data brokers.

"General Motors sold the data of California drivers without their knowledge or consent," says California's attorney general, "and despite numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so." In 2024, The New York Times "reported that automakers including GM were sharing information about their customers' driving behavior with insurance companies," remembers TechCrunch, "and that some customers were concerned that their insurance rates had gone up as a result." Now General Motors "has reached a privacy-related settlement with a group of law enforcement agencies led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta..." The settlement announcement from Bonta's office similarly alleges that GM sold "the names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians" to Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which are both data brokers. Bonta's office further alleges that this data was collected through GM's OnStar program, and that the company made roughly $20 million from data sales. However, Bonta's office also said the data did not lead to increased insurance prices in California, "likely because under California's insurance laws, insurers are prohibited from using driving data to set insurance rates." As part of the settlement, GM has agreed to pay $12.75 million in civil penalties and to stop selling driving data to any consumer reporting agencies for five years, Bonta's office said. GM has also agreed to delete any driver data that it still retains within 180 days (unless it obtains consent from customers), and to request that Lexis and Verisk delete that data. "This trove of information included precise and personal location data that could identify the everyday habits and movements of Californians," according to the attorney general's announcement. The settlement "requires General Motors to abandon these illegal practices, and underscores the importance of the data minimization in California's privacy law — companies can't just hold on to data and use it later for another purpose." "Modern cars are rolling data collection machines," said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. "Californians must have confidence that they know what data is being collected, how it is being used, and what their opt-out rights are... This case sends a strong message that law enforcement will take action when California privacy laws are not scrupulously followed." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

General Motors has reached a privacy-related settlement with a group of law enforcement agencies led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.