Business · 2026-10-30 · Afternoon briefing

General Motors to pay $220m after selling driver data

General Motors will pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 35 US states and the District of Columbia over the sale of customer data. It emerged in 2024 that GM shared information from its "Smart Driver" system with data brokers, who then sold it to insurance companies. Some drivers subsequently faced higher insurance costs, with many claiming they were unaware they had consented to such data sharing.

The settlement follows a separate agreement GM and its subsidiary OnStar made with the FTC last year, which was finalised in January. That deal banned the sharing of geolocation and driver behaviour data for five years. In the wake of that case, GM discontinued the Smart Driver program across its entire vehicle range.

Under the terms of the new settlement with the states, the automaker's compliance with its privacy policy will not be self-certified. Instead, an independent third party will be required to verify the automaker is adhering to its promises.

Summary written by Cup of News with AI from the sources below. Check the originals for the full story.

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• GM to pay $220M over allegations of selling driver data, Michigan gets $7.2M
• General Motors to pay $220 million over claims it sold drivers’ data for insurance use
• GM reaches $220M settlement over selling drivers’ private data
• GM to pay $220 million after selling customer Smart Driver data
• General Motors agrees to $220M settlement over AG driver privacy lawsuit - update

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