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General Motors Agrees to Pay $12.5 Million to Settle California Driver Data Sales Claims
General Motors has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle allegations it sold location and driving data from hundreds of thousands of California drivers between 2020 and 2024. The payment is the largest penalty issued under the California Consumer Privacy Act. The settlement requires the company to delete stored data and halt sales to certain agencies for five years.
May 8, 4:34 PM·2m read1 source
Los Angeles TimesAudio version
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General Motors has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle claims that the automaker illegally sold location and driving data of hundreds of thousands of Californians, state officials said Friday. The settlement is the largest California Consumer Privacy Act penalty in the state's history.
The act gives California consumers the right to request that businesses disclose what data they collect. Consumers can also opt out of the sharing or sale of their personal information and request that businesses delete their data. Investigators found that from 2020 to 2024, GM sold driver data including names, contact information, location data and driving behavior data to data brokers Verisk Analytics, Inc.
and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The data came from a driver's use of OnStar, which is owned by GM and provides roadside assistance, navigation and other services.
Under the settlement, which still needs court approval, the automaker would delete any driving data the company kept within 180 days and request that the two data brokers do the same. The company would also stop selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years.
It must develop a privacy program that includes assessing and mitigating the risks of data collected from OnStar. The settlement follows action by the Federal Trade Commission in 2025 that barred GM and OnStar from disclosing location and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years.
The settlement is an example of how automakers are facing more scrutiny over allegations that they share driver data with the insurance industry. California has a law that bars insurers from using driving data to set rates. The California Privacy Protection Agency in 2023 started investigating the privacy practices of connected cars.
