Wisconsin will collect $5.12 million from General Motors after the automaker agreed to pay $220 million to settle allegations it sold millions of drivers' private data to insurance companies without their knowledge.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced the settlement Oct. 29. Wisconsin was one of 36 states that sued GM, first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The case centers on GM's Smart Driver program, which the company released in 2015 as part of its OnStar service. GM marketed Smart Driver as a tool to help drivers improve their habits behind the wheel. The state's complaint, filed Oct. 29 in Dane County Circuit Court, alleged GM instead sold identifiable driving data to brokers Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Those brokers compiled the information into reports they sold to insurance companies, which in some cases used it to raise premiums.
"No car company should be selling data about where and how people drive without consent from those drivers," Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in the announcement. "Consumers should be accurately informed as to how data about them will be used."
The data was granular. According to the state's complaint, GM collected records of how many times a person drove, start and end times of each trip, hard braking and rapid acceleration events, speed-limit violations and seat belt use. Through OnStar, GM also collected precise geolocation data every three seconds, including latitude, longitude, elevation, speed and a trip identifier that could trace an entire route.
GM allegedly enrolled millions of drivers in Smart Driver between 2016 and 2024, according to the Wisconsin DOJ. Most sign-ups happened at dealerships during vehicle purchases. The complaint alleged GM heavily incentivized dealership staff to enroll buyers, offering bonuses tied to enrollment numbers. In many cases, dealership employees allegedly accepted terms and conditions on behalf of customers without consent.
A technical glitch compounded the problem. The OnStar app allegedly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they actually were, according to the complaint. GM allegedly discovered the error after a New York Times report in April 2024 but never notified those drivers. Instead, GM quietly unenrolled them and left their data with the brokers and insurers.
GM told drivers their data would not be shared with insurers without express consent, the complaint alleged. The company's privacy statement said additional authorization would be collected before driver information was shared for any insurance program. Yet GM sold identifiable data for all Smart Driver participants to Verisk and LexisNexis under contracts specifying the data would be used for insurance products, the complaint alleged. GM made over $20 million nationwide from those sales, according to the filing.
GM discontinued Smart Driver in April 2024 after the New York Times reporting. A GM spokesperson said in a statement to Courthouse News Service that the settlement "addresses Smart Driver, a product we ended in 2024, and reinforces steps we've taken to strengthen our privacy practices."
The settlement requires GM to obtain express consent from consumers before collecting or disclosing driving and location data. GM must also limit the data it collects, implement a comprehensive privacy program with internal and external assessments, and provide oversight and training at dealerships to prevent enrollment without consent.
The $220 million goes to the participating states, not directly to individual drivers. The Michigan Attorney General's office confirmed the settlement provides no consumer restitution. A separate nationwide class-action lawsuit seeking monetary damages for affected drivers remains pending, according to Law Commentary.
The affected vehicle brands are Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick. Kenosha-area residents who owned one of those vehicles and used OnStar between 2015 and 2024 may have been enrolled in Smart Driver.
