35 states, DC reach $220M settlement with General Motors over driver data privacy

Automaker General Motors (GM) agreed to pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit with 35 states and Washington, D.C., which alleged the company sold drivers’ data to insurance companies, several attorneys general involved with the settlement announced Thursday.

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, led by Democrats Dan Rayfield of Oregon and Nick Brown of Washington state, brought forward the challenge against the U.S.-based car manufacturer. GM did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.

The allegations center around GM’s Smart Driver program, in which customers could enroll when they purchased a car at the dealership to track their driver safety record and encourage safe practices. The states accused the automaker of selling user information and driving data to data brokers — who sold it to insurance companies — without enrolled drivers’ knowledge.

Brown said in a Thursday press release announcing the settlement that the data was often personal and included highly specific information about the drivers’ behavior.

“The data GM sold was personal, identifiable, and specific. Insurers had data showing how many times a person drove their vehicle, the start and end times of each drive, how many times they braked or accelerated quickly, and whether they went faster than the speed limit,” Brown said.

A GM spokesperson told The Hill on Thursday that the settlement strengthens existing privacy practices.

“This agreement addresses Smart Driver, a product we ended in 2024, and reinforces steps we’ve taken to strengthen our privacy practices,” the spokesperson said. “GM is committed to being clear about what information is used, how it’s protected, and the choices customers have about what they share.”

GM has simplified its privacy statement for consumers in recent years, the company said.

Brown also said, when users attempted to check their Smart Driver enrollment, GM’s OnStar app incorrectly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled when they actually were.

The New York Times reported in March 2024 that some drivers reportedly discovered their insurance rates had increased without any accidents — and some had trouble obtaining an insurer at all — due to driver data provided by GM.

GM has since discontinued the program, which started in 2016.

Several state attorneys general touted the ruling on social media, including Ohio’s Andy Wilson (R), Virginia’s Jay Jones (D), Colorado’s Phil Weiser (D) and New York’s Letitia James (D).

“My office is proud to defend Virginians’ privacy rights,” Jones wrote on social platform X .

After the revelations about the Smart Driver program, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against GM in January 2025, banning it from disclosing certain driver data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. The FTC also mandated that GM give consumers a way to request the deletion of their data.

Texas sued GM in 2024 over the program and thus was not part of the latest settlement. That lawsuit is ongoing.