The multistate agreement was announced Thursday by attorneys general across the coalition, including those in Michigan, Illinois, Delaware, and Arizona. It resolves a lawsuit centered on OnStar Smart Driver, a feature GM has said it ended in 2024.
OnStar Smart Driver: What the Attorneys General Say Was Collected
According to the coalition, GM tracked millions of drivers through Smart Driver from 2016 through 2024. The data included high-resolution location points along with driving behavior such as trip length, harsh braking, rapid acceleration, and speed. The Connecticut attorney general’s office has stated that more than 10 million Americans were enrolled in the program during that period.
Smart Driver was pitched to consumers as a tool for improving personal driving safety. State officials alleged that GM broke its promise to keep that information from being sold without permission, supplying it to data brokers who in turn sold it to insurance companies. Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said the data was used by insurers, in part, in setting rates. Insurers broadly use telematics to monitor driving habits, and the companies involved say the technology can reward good driving with lower premiums.
General Motors Dealership Enrollment Under Scrutiny
The states pointed to the way customers entered the program. According to state officials, a single sign-up process enrolled drivers in both Smart Driver and GM’s OnStar services, and many customers were enrolled at dealerships when buying their vehicles. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office said that in many cases dealership employees accepted the program’s terms on the customers’ behalf without the customers’ knowledge.
The coalition further alleged that the OnStar app wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they were, and that GM continued collecting and selling their information. The case followed reporting by The New York Times, in which drivers said they had been tracked without knowingly turning on the feature and later saw their insurance rates rise.
GM’s $220 Million Multistate Settlement: Money and Mandates
Under the multistate agreement, GM will pay $220 million, which is distributed among the participating states. Michigan, for example, will receive more than $7 million, according to Nessel’s office.
The settlement also imposes behavioral requirements. GM must establish an affirmative, express opt-in process before activating connected-vehicle tracking and must follow data minimization standards. The company must also put independent compliance audits in place across its dealership delivery workflows, aimed at preventing bundled enrollment in which telematics is switched on without a customer’s explicit consent.
GM’s California Agreement and Company Response
The earlier $12.75 million California agreement, reached in May, resolved a state investigation into the alleged sale of driver data to two data brokers.
In a statement following Thursday’s announcement, GM said the agreement addresses a product it ended in 2024 and reinforces steps it has taken to strengthen its privacy practices. The settlement resolves the allegations as part of an agreement, rather than through a court finding on the claims.
Connected-Car Data and the Consent Standard
The enforcement action places a spotlight on the point of sale as a consent checkpoint for connected-vehicle services. The terms GM agreed to tie activation of tracking to an explicit opt-in and to oversight of the dealership delivery process, where, state officials said, most Smart Driver enrollments originated.