The GM drivers data settlement will cost General Motors $220 million. The Detroit automaker agreed to pay that sum to resolve a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 35 states and the District of Columbia, who accused GM of illegally selling drivers’ private behaviour and location data to brokers, who then sold it to insurers.
It is a big number, and a bigger story about what your car knows about you. Drivers who signed up for a safety programme found their driving habits travelling far beyond the dashboard, ending up in the hands of companies that set insurance rates. The case, reported by USA Today on 29 October, puts a price on that journey β and new limits on what GM can collect next.
GM Drivers Data Settlement: What GM Is Accused Of
The complaint, as described by USA Today, says GM sold drivers’ private behaviour and location data to data brokers, who then passed the information to insurers. Those insurers used it to set rates, and sometimes to increase them. In other words, the way you drove could quietly push up what you paid to insure the car you drove in.
The programme at the centre of the case was Smart Driver. GM pitched it as a way to help people improve their personal driving safety. But the coalition of attorneys general says the automaker went back on its promise not to sell drivers’ data without permission. Millions of drivers were enrolled in Smart Driver between 2016 and its discontinuation in 2024.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who co-led the case with Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, summed up the anger in one line: βPeople bought a car, not a tracking device.β A bipartisan coalition joined the lawsuit, including attorneys general from Alabama, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
How the Data Travelled to Insurers
The chain in the complaint is short and, for drivers, unsettling. A car records how and where it is driven. That data goes to a broker. The broker sells it to an insurer. The insurer uses it to price a policy. At no point in that chain, the states argue, did drivers give the clear permission GM had promised them.
Insurers such as Allstate, Progressive and Geico use telematics β the technology behind programmes like Smart Driver β to monitor driving habits. They say it rewards good driving with lower premiums. That may be true for some drivers. The states’ point is different: a driver should know the deal before the data leaves the car, and should be able to say no.
GM, in a statement to USA Today, said the settlement reinforces other steps it has taken to strengthen privacy. βSafer, more helpful and personalized experiences are enabled by connected vehicle data, and GM is committed to being clear about what information is used, how it’s protected, and the choices customers have about what they share,β the automaker said.
What the Settlement Requires Next
The money is only part of the GM drivers data settlement. The deal also requires GM to limit the driving data it collects and to obtain drivers’ express consent before collecting or sharing it. That is a shift from a system where enrolment in a safety programme could quietly open the door to data sales.
This is not GM’s first run-in over the same issue. In January 2025, GM, in an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, pledged not to disclose vehicle geolocation and driver behaviour data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. In May, GM agreed to a $12.75 million settlement to resolve a California investigation into its alleged sale of driver data to two data brokers.
Put together, the three actions sketch a pattern regulators clearly want to break: collect first, explain later, and let the data find its own buyers. The $220 million deal, the largest of the three by a wide margin, is meant to make that pattern too expensive to repeat.
What Drivers Should Check Now
If you drive a GM vehicle, or any connected car, the GM drivers data settlement is a prompt to look at settings you may never have opened. Check whether a driving programme is switched on, what data it collects, and who it shares that data with. If consent is now required before collection or sharing, that consent should be explicit β not buried in a long terms screen you tapped through years ago.
It is also worth asking your insurer a direct question: does your premium use telematics data, and if so, where did that data come from? Insurers say the technology can lower premiums for careful drivers. Drivers are entitled to know whether their own record helped them, hurt them, or was bought from a broker they never dealt with.
The wider lesson reaches beyond GM. Almost every new car is now a connected device, and almost every connected device collects more than its owner realises. Settlements like this one do not stop that trend, but they do force a clearer conversation about it β one where permission comes first, not as an afterthought.
Sources and Resources
Read the original reporting on the GM drivers data settlement here:
How much is GM paying in the data settlement?
$220 million, to resolve a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of 35 states and the District of Columbia.
What data did GM allegedly sell?
Drivers’ private behaviour and location data, collected through the Smart Driver programme, which was sold to brokers and then to insurers that used it to set or increase rates.
Who led the case against GM?
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led the case, with a bipartisan coalition including Alabama, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
What is Smart Driver, and when did it run?
Smart Driver was GM’s programme pitched as helping drivers improve their personal driving safety. Millions of drivers were enrolled between 2016 and its discontinuation in 2024.
What does the settlement require GM to do now?
Limit the driving data it collects and obtain drivers’ express consent before collecting or sharing it, on top of the $220 million payment.
Conclusion
The GM drivers data settlement closes one lawsuit, but it opens a question every connected-car owner should ask: what does my car share, and who gave it permission? GM has paid $220 million, promised clearer consent, and already faced two earlier actions over the same data. For drivers, the practical step is simple β check your car’s data settings, ask your insurer where its data comes from, and treat consent as something you give, not something assumed. A car, as Rayfield put it, is not a tracking device. After this settlement, GM has to act like it believes that too.
The GM drivers data settlement matters beyond one automaker because the same data chain runs through most new cars. A connected vehicle records where it goes, how it is driven and when it brakes, and that information is valuable to brokers and insurers alike. The GM drivers data settlement draws a line under that trade: permission first, collection second, and no quiet resale in between.
For drivers, the GM drivers data settlement is also a reminder to check what was agreed to at the dealership and in the app. The GM drivers data settlement will not rewrite every privacy policy overnight, but the $220 million price tag, the express-consent rule and the earlier FTC and California actions together tell carmakers that data collected in the name of safety cannot be sold as a side business. The GM drivers data settlement sets that standard in plain terms.
