General Motors has agreed to pay $12.75 million to settle a lawsuit in California over the sale of customer driving data collected through its OnStar program. The settlement, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, resolves allegations that GM sold personal data—including names, contact information, geolocation, and driving behavior—to data brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNex游戏副本 Risk Solutions without customer consent. These brokers then provided the data to auto insurers, which could use it to adjust premiums, although California law prohibits insurers from using such data to raise rates. The case follows a 2024 New York Times investigation that exposed how GM shared driving data with third parties, prompting both this state action and an earlier settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Under the agreement, GM must delete the collected driving data within 180 days unless it has express customer consent, allowing only limited internal retention. The company is also banned from selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. Additionally, GM must create a privacy program to evaluate the risks associated with OnStar data collection and submit reports to the Department of Justice and other agencies. In a statement, Bonta said the settlement compels GM to end illegal data practices and emphasized compliance with California's data minimization principles, which restrict companies from retaining and repurposing consumer data without permission.
GM's settlement reveals a pattern of treating customer data as a commodity, selling it despite the risk of financial harm to drivers. While California's insurance laws likely shielded residents from rate hikes tied to driving behavior, the company still profited from personal data without consent. The five-year ban on data sales may curb future misuse, but the allowance for internal retention under vague "limited uses" weakens the privacy win. For Nigerian tech users, this underscores how easily data collected for one service can be monetized in unseen ways—especially where regulation lags.
Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →
