Arizona to get $5.9 million in General Motors settlement over drivers’ data

General Motors will pay $220 million to settle claims that it secretly sold drivers’ data to companies that passed it along to insurers, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Thursday.

Arizona will get $5.9 million of the settlement, which involves more than 35 states and Washington, D.C.

“Drivers were enrolled in data tracking without their knowledge,” Mayes said.

From 2016 to 2024, GM signed up millions of drivers for its Smart Driver program, which tracked how often they drove, when trips started and ended, hard braking, quick acceleration and speeding. GM promoted it as a way to help people drive more safely and said it wouldn’t share the data with insurers without permission.

Instead, according to the states, GM sold the information to data brokers, who sold it to insurance companies.

Some insurers used it to raise drivers’ rates.

Most people were enrolled at the dealership when they bought their car. In many cases, salespeople allegedly accepted the terms for customers without asking them. GM also wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers through its OnStar app that they weren’t enrolled when they were.

GM ended the program after The New York Times reported on it.

What the General Motors settlement means for drivers

Under the settlement, GM must get drivers’ clear permission before collecting or sharing their driving and location data. Drivers will be able to turn off location tracking, request a copy of their data and ask GM to delete it. GM must also delete most driving data it kept from before January 2025.

GM did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

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