Attorney General Jeff Jackson Reaches $220 Million Settlement with General Motors Over Secret OnStar Data Sharing

North Carolina will receive more than $7.6 million

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 30, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
919-538-2809

RALEIGH - Attorney General Jeff Jackson and a bipartisan coalition of 36 states have reached a $220 million settlement with General Motors to resolve allegations that the company illegally collected and sold data its OnStar Smart Driver program collected about its drivers.

"General Motors told drivers it would keep their data private - it lied. It told drivers it wouldn't share their data without their permission - it lied," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "Your data belongs to you, and you should be able to decide when and how it's shared."

The coalition alleged that, from 2016 to 2024, General Motors enrolled millions of drivers in the Smart Driver program. Some drivers were enrolled by the dealership without their consent because dealers were incentivized by GM, and more than 370,000 other drivers were told they weren't enrolled when they were.

The program tracked drivers' habits, and General Motors pitched it as a way for drivers to improve their driving safety. The program collected data including when drivers accelerated or braked hard, drove over 80 mph, or drove late at night. The company told drivers that they would receive the data to help them be safer drivers but told them it would not share their data with insurers without express consent.

General Motors broke that promise. It sold drivers' private behavior data and location information to third parties, including data brokers who then sold the data to insurance companies, without telling drivers. Insurance companies then used that data to set premiums for drivers based on their driving habits.

General Motors discontinued the Smart Driver program after The New York Times reported on these practices.

General Motors' own systems failed to notify drivers about whether their data was being tracked. The OnStar app mistakenly told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they were enrolled and General Motors was collecting and selling their data. The company later quietly unenrolled the more than 370,000 drivers without telling them about the mistake and left their data with the brokers and insurance companies.

The settlement requires the company to obtain express consent from consumers before collecting or disclosing their driving and location data.

Additionally, the settlement requires General Motors to limit the driving data it collects from consumers and protect their personal information going forward as part of a comprehensive data privacy program. The company also agreed to oversight and training requirements at dealerships to protect consumers from being enrolled in programs that collect their data without their consent.

General Motors will pay $220 million to the states to settle the allegations, including $7,657,771 to North Carolina.

Attorney General Jackson is joined in reaching this settlement by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawai'i, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the consent judgment is available here.

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