General Motors (GM) is again facing legal problems regarding customer data privacy.
After previously reaching an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), now the automotive manufacturer from the United States has agreed to pay a fine of US$12.75 million or around Rp. 208 billion to settle a lawsuit in California regarding misuse of driver data.
Quoted from Engadget (10/05/26)This case stems from an investigative report by The New York Times in 2024 which revealed that GM collected customer driving data through the OnStar service. The data is then sold to data brokers such as Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
The data broker is said to be able to forward this information to vehicle insurance companies. In some cases, customer driving behavior data could even potentially be used to increase users’ insurance premiums.
Even though California law prohibits insurance companies from using driving data to increase premium rates, the lawsuit still claims GM violated customer privacy by selling data without the user’s explicit consent.
The data allegedly shared includes customer names, contact information, geographic location, and driving behavior such as speed, braking patterns and other driving habits.
As part of the settlement, GM is also prohibited from selling customer driving data to consumer reporting agencies for the next five years.
In addition, companies are required to delete all driving data that is still stored within a maximum of 180 days, except for certain permitted internal needs or if they have obtained explicit consent from the customer.
Not only that, GM also had to build a new privacy protection program to evaluate the risks of data collection through the OnStar service. The results of this evaluation must be reported to the California Department of Justice and other related agencies.
California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, emphasized that this case is an important reminder about protecting consumer personal data in the era of connected vehicles.
“Today General Motors is required to stop this illegal practice and this case highlights the importance of the data minimization principle in California privacy law. Companies cannot carelessly store data and then use it for other purposes at a later date,” said Bonta.
The GM case is a major example of the increasing spotlight on the modern automotive industry which is now increasingly dependent on digital technology and internet connectivity. Today’s modern cars are able to collect various user data in real-time, ranging from location, driving habits, to activities in the vehicle.
On the other hand, the increasing use of connected car technology has also raised new concerns regarding the security and privacy of user data. Because of this, regulators in various countries are starting to tighten the rules regarding how automotive companies collect, store and share customer data.
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