GM Pays $12.75 Million for Unauthorized Sale of California Drivers’ Data

*TL;DR: General Motors will pay $12.75 million to settle California’s claim that it sold drivers’ location and behavior data without consent, and faces a five‑year ban on future data sales.

Context California’s attorney general announced a settlement that ends a multi‑year investigation into GM’s handling of telematics data. The probe began in 2023 after regulators noticed discrepancies between GM’s privacy statements and its actual data‑sharing practices.

Key Facts - GM agreed to a $12.75 million civil‑penalty settlement, pending court approval. The payment resolves claims that the automaker illegally sold the precise location and driving‑behavior data of hundreds of thousands of California residents. - Attorney General Rob Bonta said GM transferred the data to two brokers—Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions—without informing drivers or obtaining consent. - The data included geolocation points that could reveal home addresses, workplaces, schools and places of worship, making it possible to reconstruct daily routines. - GM earned roughly $20 million from these sales, collected through its OnStar subscription service, which records vehicle movements and driver habits. - As part of the settlement, California will bar GM from selling any consumer‑driving data for five years and will closely monitor the company’s future data practices.

What It Means The settlement underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of automotive data collection. While California insurers cannot use driving data to set rates, the breach erodes consumer trust in vehicle‑connected services. Automakers may need to redesign privacy policies, improve opt‑out mechanisms, and invest in transparent data‑handling frameworks to avoid similar penalties. Watch for how GM implements the new restrictions and whether other states adopt comparable bans on vehicle data sales.