FTC bans General Motors from selling driving data without permission, adding to case for CarPlay 2

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against General Motors and OnStar for selling location and driving data from millions of GM car owners, allegedly without informed consent. This data was collected as frequently as every three seconds.

Both companies have been banned from selling location and driving behavior data for a period of five years, and will need to ensure they disclose any future sharing plans, and obtain proper consent for it …

General Motors sold location and driving data

It was not disputed that General Motors and OnStar collected both location and driving data from customers who had opted for the OnStar connected vehicle service and the OnStar Smart Driver feature.

Data on hard braking, speeding, and even driving late at night would be sold to consumer reporting agencies who use it to create profiles that allowed insurance companies to hike rates or even deny coverage.

What was disputed was whether car buyers understood that this was part of the deal. GM and OnStar say yes, the FTC says no.

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against General Motors (GM) and OnStar over allegations they collected, used, and sold drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior information from millions of vehicles—data that can be used to set insurance rates—without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their affirmative consent […]

The FTC alleged that Michigan-based GM used a misleading enrollment process to get consumers to sign up for its OnStar connected vehicle service and the OnStar Smart Driver feature. GM failed to clearly disclose that it collected consumers’ precise geolocation and driving behavior data and sold it to third parties.

Five year ban imposed

To settle the matter, the FTC has proposed a five-year ban on selling the data, followed by steps to ensure that any future data sales are fully disclosed to consumers, and only proceeds with their explicit consent.

Under a proposed order settling the FTC’s allegations, General Motors LLC, General Motors Holdings LLC, and OnStar LLC, which are owned by General Motors Company, will be banned for five years from disclosing consumers’ sensitive geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies. They also must take other steps to provide greater transparency and choice to consumers over the collection, use, and disclosure of their connected vehicle data.

By agreeing to this proposal, GM and OnStar can settle the matter without further penalty.

Helps make the case for CarPlay 2

CarPlay 2 would see Apple take over much of the car’s data systems, from infotainment to driving instruments like speedometers. However, two deadlines have passed without a single car maker launching it.

One of the reasons auto brands are believed to be reluctant to cede this much control is that they want to collect data from their own systems. With CarPlay 2, they wouldn’t have access to as much data, and it would instead be protected by Apple’s strong privacy standards.

Behavior like this only strengthens the case for consumers to buy vehicles from companies which do offer the new CarPlay standard.

Photo: General Motors