General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations from a 36-state coalition that the automaker sold drivers' private driving and location data to third-party brokers without customer permission, according to official statements from state attorneys general on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026.
Misleading Data Collection
The settlement addresses the automaker's Smart Driver program, which tracked the driving habits of millions of vehicle owners between 2016 and 2024. State investigators found that GM pitched the program as a safety tool and promised not to share data with insurance companies without express consent, but instead sold the information to data brokers who provided it to insurers to adjust rates.
Impact on Insurance Premiums
The collected data was highly personal and specific, including trip start and end times, trip frequency, hard braking, rapid acceleration, and speeding. While GM marketed the program as a way for drivers to improve their own safety, the investigation revealed that data brokers purchased extensive reports detailing every trip taken by drivers.
Insurance companies then purchased this information and could potentially use it to change rates, even for drivers who had not filed any claims. As reported by The New York Times, some drivers saw significant increases in their premiums after GM sold their driving history. In one instance, a GM owner was informed by an insurance broker that a 22 percent increase in their car insurance premium was caused by personal driving information provided by a data broker.
Dealer Enrollment Incentives
The investigation highlighted systemic issues in how customers were enrolled in the program. Most customers signed up for Smart Driver at dealerships through a unified process for GM's OnStar service. To meet corporate enrollment targets that tied sales bonuses to connected vehicle sign-ups, dealership employees frequently accepted terms and conditions on behalf of buyers without their knowledge.
Between 2020 and 2024, GM heavily incentivized dealership employees through bonuses based in part on how many customers they signed up for GM's connected vehicle services, including Smart Driver. Dealerships were also ranked based on their enrollment numbers.
System Failures and Errors
The automaker's own systems also failed to accurately inform drivers of their enrollment status. The OnStar mobile application incorrectly told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in Smart Driver while the company continued to collect and sell their data.
GM later quietly unenrolled those drivers without notifying them of the error, leaving the previously collected information with data brokers and insurance providers. This error occurred despite the fact that over 700,000 New York drivers were enrolled in the Smart Driver program.
State Payouts and Coalition
The settlement includes specific financial payouts to participating states. Oregon, which co-led the multi-state coalition alongside Washington, will receive more than $10.4 million. Washington will receive $12.3 million, and New York will receive more than $12 million, specifically $12,054,341.
Other states involved in the executive committee assisting the investigation include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermont. The coalition also included attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawai’i, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.
Future Privacy Requirements
Under the terms of the settlement, GM is required to implement several consumer protections. The automaker must obtain affirmative, express consent before collecting or sharing driver data, limit the amount of driving information it gathers, and establish a comprehensive data privacy program.
Additionally, GM must undergo both internal and external privacy assessments. The company is also required to implement dealership oversight and training to prevent unauthorized customer sign-ups and protect consumers from being enrolled in data collection schemes without their consent.
