The final order, which will last 20 years, orders GM to obtain explicit consent from consumers before collecting, using or sharing connected vehicle data.
Federal regulators have finalized a settlement with General Motors GM 0.00%↑ and its OnStar subsidiary, banning the company for five years from sharing sensitive driver location and behavior data with consumer reporting agencies. The Federal Trade Commission order, finalized Wednesday, follows allegations that the automaker spent years collecting and selling detailed telematics data from millions of vehicles without obtaining clear, informed consent from its customers.
The FTC investigation found that GM’s Smart Driver program captured driving habits—including precise GPS location, hard braking, rapid acceleration, and seatbelt usage—as often as every three seconds. This information was reportedly sold to data brokers such as LexisNexis and Verisk, which then packaged the findings into risk scores for insurance companies. In many instances, the data sharing led to significant insurance premium increases for drivers who were unaware their vehicles were tracking their performance for third-party profit.
In addition to the five-year ban on selling data to reporting agencies, the 20-year consent order mandates that GM implement sweeping privacy reforms. The company must now obtain “affirmative express consent” from customers before collecting any connected vehicle data and provide a clear mechanism for users to request the deletion of previously harvested information. The order also requires the automaker to allow drivers to disable geolocation tracking and opt out of data collection entirely without losing access to essential vehicle features.
Background information from Location Business News highlights that the federal action follows intense state-level scrutiny, including a lawsuit from the Texas Attorney General’s Office involving 1.5 million drivers. According to Location Business News, Texas investigators alleged that GM misled customers during the vehicle “onboarding” process by suggesting that safety features would be deactivated if they did not enroll in services like OnStar Smart Driver. This deceptive tactic allegedly turned millions of vehicles into “comprehensive surveillance systems” that recorded every trip taken by unsuspecting owners.
General Motors, which reached the initial agreement with the FTC in early 2025, has since discontinued the Smart Driver program and ended its relationships with the data brokers involved. While the settlement does not include a monetary penalty, the FTC described the measures as necessary “fencing-in relief” following an egregious betrayal of consumer trust. GM officials stated that the company remains committed to protecting customer privacy as vehicle connectivity becomes a more central part of the modern driving experience.
