GM agrees to pay $12.75M in California driver privacy settlement
TechCrunch • • general
Key Points:
- General Motors has reached a privacy-related settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other law enforcement agencies over allegations of selling driver data without consent.
- The settlement alleges GM sold names, contact information, geolocation, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians to data brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis, generating about $20 million.
- Despite the data sales, California insurance rates were not affected due to state laws prohibiting insurers from using driving data to set rates.
- GM agreed to pay $12.75 million in civil penalties, cease selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years, delete retained driver data within 180 days, and ensure data deletion by the brokers.
- This settlement follows a prior Federal Trade Commission order restricting GM and OnStar from selling certain data, highlighting ongoing scrutiny of automakers’ data privacy practices.
