General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations that it sold drivers' private behavior and location data to third parties without consent, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Oct. 29.
Michigan will receive $7,205,319 from the settlement, according to Nessel's office. The agreement resolves claims brought by a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general.
Michigan drivers enrolled in GM's Smart Driver program between 2016 and 2024 may have had their data collected and sold without their knowledge, according to the attorney general's office.
What GM allegedly did
GM promoted Smart Driver as a way for motorists to improve their safety. The company told drivers it would not share their data with insurers without express consent, according to Nessel's office.
The coalition alleged that GM sold the information to data brokers under contracts specifying that the data would be used for insurance products. Those brokers then sold it to insurance companies, which could use driving habits to help set premiums.
The information included how frequently a person drove, trip start and end times, sudden braking or acceleration, and instances of speeding.
"Drivers deserve to know what information about them is being collected and how it may affect their wallets," Nessel said in a statement. "Discovering after the fact that a company has been tracking and selling their driving data without their consent is unacceptable."
How drivers were enrolled
Most customers who signed up for Smart Driver did so at a GM dealership when buying their vehicles, according to Nessel's office.
In many cases, dealership employees allegedly accepted terms and conditions on customers' behalf without consent. GM was also encouraging dealerships to enroll as many customers in its OnStar service as possible.
GM's own systems compounded the problem. The OnStar app mistakenly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they actually were.
GM later unenrolled those drivers without notifying them about the error and allegedly left their data with brokers and insurers.
The program was discontinued in 2024.
What the settlement requires
Under the settlement agreement, GM must obtain affirmative express consent before collecting or disclosing covered driving and location data.
The automaker must also limit the information it collects and implement a comprehensive data privacy program.
The agreement includes internal and external privacy assessments, along with oversight and training requirements at dealerships.
The settlement does not provide direct restitution to consumers. A nationwide private class-action lawsuit seeking monetary relief remains pending, according to Nessel's office.
Michigan's $7.2 million payment may be used for consumer protection enforcement, investigations, litigation, education and other legally permitted purposes.
GM does not admit liability under the agreement.
A GM spokesperson told Michigan Advance that the settlement addresses Smart Driver, a product the company ended in 2024, and reinforces measures it has taken to improve privacy practices.
The settlement follows a separate May 2026 agreement in which GM agreed to pay $12.75 million to resolve a California investigation into related data practices, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A separate Federal Trade Commission order also restricts GM from disclosing vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years.
