FTC Bans GM From Selling Your Driving Data For 5 Years

General Motors has been banned for five years from providing geolocation and driver behavior data from customers with consumer reporting agencies. This comes after allegations and an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission that suggested GM and OnStar were collecting, using, and selling sensitive data from millions of vehicles that could be used to set insurance rates.

The FTC has alleged that the car manufacturing giant used a misleading process to enroll customers in its OnStar connected vehicle service and the OnStar Smart Driver feature. It said GM failed to disclose clearly that it was collecting precise geolocation and driving behavior data and sold it to third parties with consumers’ consent. In some cases, OnStar allegedly collects geolocation data every three seconds.

Read: Texas Sues GM For Illegally Selling 1.8M Drivers’ Data to Insurers

GM would go on to sell information, including data related to hard braking, speeding, and late-night driving, to consumer report agencies. These agencies would then use this information to compile credit reports on consumers, often used by insurance companies to set rates and deny insurance.  

Through a newly proposed order, GM and OnStar will be banned from disclosing data for five years from the date the order is entered. The companies must also obtain affirmative express consent from consumers before collecting connected vehicle data, except in some cases, such as providing location data to emergency first responders.

Perhaps of even more importance than this is that GM and OnStar must give consumers the ability to disable the collection of precise geolocation and driving behavior data, “with some limited exceptions.” GM also needs to allow consumers to obtain and delete data that’s been collected about them.

“GM monitored and sold people’s precise geolocation data and driver behavior information, sometimes as often as every three seconds,” GTC chair Lina M. Khan said. “With this action, the FTC is safeguarding Americans’ privacy and protecting people from unchecked surveillance.”

GM is one of many car manufacturers to come under fire for collecting and selling sensitive driving data in the US over the past year. In August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against GM, alleging it unlawfully collected and sold the driving data of more than 1.8 million Texas since the 2015 model year. Hyundai and Kia were also sued last year for reportedly collecting driving data from owners and selling it to insurance companies.