by FTC says GM sold location and driving data without clear consent. Order bars sharing with reporting agencies for full five years. Drivers can opt out and request old data about them be deleted.
Motorists’ Suspicions Confirmed
If you’ve ever had the feeling that your car and the company that made it know too much about you, you weren’t mistaken. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sanctioned General Motors, banning the company from selling driver data and giving consumers the ability to stop its collection.
The Essence of the Ban and the Accusations
The most significant decision is a five-year ban for GM and its telematics unit OnStar on sharing geolocation and driving style data with credit bureaus. This ruling was issued after it was established that the companies collected and sold location information of millions of vehicles without properly informing drivers and obtaining clear consent.
The Beginning of the Story and the Terms of the Agreement
It all stems from a complaint first announced in January 2025. U.S. regulators claim that GM used a deceptive registration process to sign consumers up for OnStar services and the OnStar Smart Driver feature. The company did not clearly disclose that it collects precise location and driving behavior data and sells it to third parties without consent.
The order is not limited to the five-year ban. For the next 20 years, GM is required to act with much greater transparency, obtaining clear, direct consent before collecting, using, or sharing certain connected vehicle data, except for limited cases such as emergency response.
Consumer Rights and GM’s Further Actions
The company must also offer all consumers in the U.S. a way to request a copy of their data and demand its deletion, as well as provide the ability to disable precise geolocation collection if the vehicle supports it.
GM is Not the Only One on the Market
GM discontinued its OnStar Smart Driver service in April 2024 when news headlines emerged about the sale of driver data to third parties, including data brokers who supplied information to insurance companies. Over the past year, several lawsuits have been filed against GM regarding data collection practices in various states, including Texas and Nebraska.
But it is not the only automaker accused of questionable data-related activities. Hyundai and Kia were also sued in 2024 for selling data to insurers.
Company Reaction and the Future
In a statement, GM said: “The Federal Trade Commission has formally approved the agreement reached last year with General Motors to resolve the issues. As vehicle connectivity becomes an increasingly important part of the driving experience, GM remains committed to protecting customer privacy, maintaining trust, and ensuring customers clearly understand our practices.”
This case points to a critically important trend in the era of connected cars: the conflict between companies’ need for data to develop services and a person’s fundamental right to privacy. While the FTC’s decision sets an important precedent and provides consumers with new control tools, the order’s twenty-year term and the ongoing evolution of data collection technologies mean the issue remains open. The effectiveness of the new rules will depend on the vigilance of both regulators and drivers themselves, who must actively use their new rights to request and delete information.
