GM to pay $220M over alleged sale of nearly 10.3M drivers’ data to insurers

By Top Class Actions | November 6, 2026

Category: Legal News

(Photo Credit: Poetra.RH/Shutterstock)

GM settlement overview:

Who: A bipartisan coalition of 35 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia settled consumer privacy claims against General Motors LLC, General Motors Holdings LLC and OnStar LLC.
Why: GM agreed to pay $220 million over claims it sold drivers’ Smart Driver data to brokers that supplied insurers.
Where: The settlement was filed in Oregon state court, with similar judgments in other state courts.

A coalition of 35 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia has reached a $220 million GM settlement resolving claims that the automaker sold drivers’ behavior and location data to data brokers, who passed it on to insurers.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led the case, which was announced on Oct. 29. Oregon’s complaint, filed a day earlier, claims GM violated the state’s consumer protection law through its now-discontinued Smart Driver program.

GM promoted Smart Driver, launched in 2015 as part of its OnStar service, as a tool to help drivers improve their habits, the complaint says. The program tracked hard braking, rapid acceleration, speeding, seat belt use and late-night driving.

Oregon claims GM sold the data to Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which compiled driver reports for insurers and generated more than $20 million in revenue from the sales nationwide.

The state argues GM promised to share only anonymous data through a separate insurance discount program but sold identifiable data on every Smart Driver participant. “People bought a car, not a tracking device,” Rayfield said in a statement.

GM must pay the $220 million within 30 days after the judgment takes effect on Nov. 30, with Oregon receiving $10,460,649. Connecticut is owed more than $6 million and Illinois about $10.5 million, while Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the deal offers no restitution to customers, Law360 reports.

GM allegedly misled 370,000 drivers about data privacy

Oregon alleges GM’s apps wrongly told more than 370,000 consumers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver while their data was being collected and sold. “GM never notified affected consumers of the error,” the complaint states.

GM also allegedly paid dealership staff incentives to enroll buyers, and some employees accepted terms on customers’ behalf without consent.

The GM settlement requires the company to get drivers’ affirmative express consent before collecting, using or sharing their driving and location data. GM must also delete most driving data retained before Jan. 16, 2025, ask third parties to delete data they received and hire an independent assessor to review its data privacy program.

Meanwhile, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said drivers faced higher insurance premiums while GM profited, adding, “GM turned private vehicles into mobile insurance surveillance machines without consumer consent or awareness.”

GM did not admit wrongdoing, and the judgment does not limit drivers’ private claims. A separate data privacy class action lawsuit remains pending in Georgia federal court.

Were you enrolled in GM’s Smart Driver program? Let us know in the comments.

The GM settlement was entered as separate judgments in each participating state, including State of Oregon ex rel. Dan Rayfield v. General Motors LLC, et al., in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Multnomah. The related GM driver data class action lawsuit is In re: Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Litigation, MDL No. 3115, Case No. 1:24-md-03115-TWT, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.