The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) bans General Motors from selling driver data for five years

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against General Motors and Onstar for allegedly sharing details about drivers with third parties without their consent. The agency subsequently launched an investigation into the car company New York Times GM collected data about customers’ vehicle usage and sold it to third-party platforms used by insurance companies.

The information came from the OnStar Smart Driver program, which GM vehicle customers were either encouraged to participate in or did not realize they had agreed to join. The software collected data on behaviors such as hard braking, late-night driving and speeding, and reportedly sold the information to LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, which in turn sold that data to insurance companies. Shortly after times Report, GM He said You have stopped sharing sensitive information with data brokers.

Today, the FTC proposed a settlement that would prohibit both GM and OnStar from disclosing consumers’ geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. These companies will also be required to take additional steps to increase transparency and customer choice surrounding the information they collect and share.

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