GM Agrees to Pay $220 Million Over Sale of Drivers’ Data to Insurers

General Motors will pay $220 million to settle claims by 36 state attorneys general that it sold drivers’ location and driving-behavior data to data brokers, which passed it to insurance companies that sometimes used it to raise premiums. The settlement, announced Oct. 29, 2026, sends $5.7 million to Massachusetts and requires GM to get drivers’ express consent before collecting or sharing that data, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s office.

Key figures: $220M total settlement · 36 attorneys general · $5.7M to Massachusetts · 370,000+ drivers wrongly told they were not enrolled

What the states say GM did

From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of drivers in a program called Smart Driver, which tracked how they drove. According to the coalition, GM pitched the tool as a way for drivers to improve their own safety and told them their data would not go to insurers without express consent. The states say GM instead sold the information to data brokers under contracts that specified it was for insurance products, and that the brokers then sold it to insurers who could adjust a driver’s premium based on those habits.

The data was detailed. According to the attorneys general, insurers could see how many times a person drove, when each trip started and ended, how often the driver braked or accelerated hard, and whether the car exceeded the speed limit. GM shut down Smart Driver after the New York Times reported on the practice.

The states also describe how drivers ended up enrolled. Most signed up at a dealership when buying a car, through a single process that bundled Smart Driver with GM’s OnStar connected-car services. In many cases, the coalition alleges, dealership employees accepted the terms and conditions for customers without their consent. GM was pushing dealers hard to sign people up at the time: sales staff earned bonuses based partly on enrollments, and dealerships were ranked by their numbers, according to the Washington attorney general’s office, which co-led the case with Oregon.

One allegation stands out. The OnStar app told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in Smart Driver when they were, and GM was collecting and selling their data, the states say. GM later quietly unenrolled those drivers without telling them about the error and left their data with the brokers and insurers.

Several state releases describe the claims as allegations. The Maryland attorney general’s announcement frames them that way throughout. GM admits no liability or wrongdoing under the agreement, according to This Week in Worcester, which reviewed the proposed consent judgment.

By the numbers: where the $220 million goes

Each state announced its own share. Washington, a co-lead, receives $12.3 million, about 5.6% of the total. Maryland receives $7.33 million, Arizona $5.9 million and Massachusetts $5.7 million ($5,704,273). Together, those four states account for $31.23 million, or about 14% of the settlement, by TBR’s calculation from the state releases. Massachusetts’ share works out to roughly 2.6% of the total.

The money goes to the states, not to individual drivers. The judgment lets Campbell use Massachusetts’ share at her discretion, including for the state’s General Fund or the Local Consumer Aid Fund. The terms take effect Nov. 30, and GM must pay the states within 30 days of that date.

What changes for drivers

Beyond the payment, GM must obtain affirmative, express consent before collecting or disclosing consumers’ driving and location data. It must also limit the driving data it collects, run a comprehensive data privacy program with regular internal and external assessments, and train and oversee dealerships so customers are not enrolled in data collection without their agreement. The Washington and Arizona offices said the terms are significantly stronger than any other resolution reached with GM over this conduct. Drivers can ask GM for a copy of their data or ask it to delete it, and GM must destroy driver data it held before Jan. 16, 2025, within 180 days, with limited exceptions.

The state deal follows a Federal Trade Commission order finalized in January that bars GM from sharing drivers’ geolocation and driving-behavior data with consumer reporting agencies for five years, and requires consent before collecting or sharing connected-vehicle data for the order’s 20-year term.

“Massachusetts drivers deserve to know their personal information and driving history will be protected and not sold to entities that could exploit it,” Campbell said. “This settlement requires GM to make significant improvements to its data use, disclosure, and transparency practices to protect consumers’ personal identifying information moving forward.” For Massachusetts, the case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Camy Ruck of the office’s Privacy and Responsible Technology Division.

“Washingtonians’ data is personal and valuable, which is why they should always have control over how it’s used,” said Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, whose office called the deal bipartisan.

Part of a wider fight over tracking

The case comes as devices of all kinds collect more about their owners. The Boston Report has covered a Northeastern study on how smart TVs track viewing and the debate over license-plate cameras in Lowell.

Sources

• Massachusetts Attorney General: AG Campbell secures $5.7 million in GM settlement (Oct. 29, 2026)
• Washington Attorney General: GM to pay $220M (Oct. 29, 2026)
• Maryland Attorney General: $220M multistate settlement (Oct. 29, 2026)
• This Week in Worcester: Massachusetts gets $5.7M in GM settlement (Oct. 30, 2026)
• Arizona Attorney General: settlement with GM (Oct. 29, 2026)

Additional sources

• FTC: analysis of proposed GM consent order
• North Carolina Department of Justice: GM settlement