Observed Signal · May 9, 2026 · Legal Settlement · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Negative
GM to pay $12.75M in California driver privacy settlement
General Motors reached a privacy settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office, agreeing to pay $12.75 million over allegations it sold the names, contact information, geolocation and driving‑behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians collected via its OnStar program. The state's announcement says GM sold that data to data brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions and made roughly $20 million from those sales. Under the settlement GM must stop selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years, delete any retained driver data within 180 days unless it obtains consent, and request that Verisk and LexisNexis delete the data. The company says the product involved (Smart Driver) was discontinued in 2024; GM previously reached a related FTC settlement restricting certain data sales.
The settlement restricts the sale of vehicle telematics/driving data to consumer reporting agencies, imposes deletion and a multi-year ban, and signals increased regulatory scrutiny of corporate data‑monetization practices — important for data brokers, automotive telematics programs, and companies relying on third‑party consumer data.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- General Motors agreed to pay $12.75 million in a California privacy settlement.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office alleges GM sold names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians.
- The office alleges GM sold the data to Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions and made roughly $20 million from those sales.
- Settlement terms: GM must stop selling driving data to any consumer reporting agencies for five years and delete retained driver data within 180 days unless it obtains consent; it must also request that LexisNexis and Verisk delete the data.
- GM previously settled with the Federal Trade Commission in a related matter restricting certain data sales; the disputed product (Smart Driver) was discontinued in 2024.
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