General Motors will pay $220 million to settle claims from 36 attorneys general, from 35 states and Washington, D.C., that it sold drivers’ data without telling them, data that insurers then used to set prices. The GM data settlement, announced Oct. 29, does not send checks to drivers. What it does give you is a clear set of new rights, and one email from GM that you will want to watch for. We read the 38 page court judgment so you do not have to.
The short version
GM settled with dozens of states over its old Smart Driver program, which tracked how people drove and passed that data to brokers. The money goes to the states, but drivers get new ways to see and delete their data.
- GM will pay $220 million within 30 days of Nov. 30, 2026, split among the states, not paid to individual drivers.
- The data included trip times, hard braking, fast acceleration and speeding, according to the Minnesota attorney general.
- GM must ask the companies it shared data with before Jan. 16, 2025 to delete it.
- By Feb. 28, 2027, GM may email drivers whose old data it kept, asking to hold on to it. If you ignore that email for 30 days, GM must delete it.
- You can ask GM for a copy of your data now at gm.com/consumer-privacy, and the judgment says copy requests must be handled within 45 days.
What GM did, according to the states
From 2016 to 2024, GM signed millions of drivers up for Smart Driver, a feature that scored driving habits. According to the Minnesota attorney general’s announcement, GM said the data would not go to insurers without express consent, then sold it to data brokers under contracts that said it would be used for insurance products. The brokers sold it to insurers, who could raise prices based on how someone drove.
The states say most people were signed up at the dealership while buying a car, often in the same step as OnStar, and that staff sometimes clicked through the terms for customers. The OnStar app also told about 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled when they were. GM ended Smart Driver in 2024 and says it cut ties with the brokers LexisNexis and Verisk.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said GM “secretly collected consumers’ private driver behavior data” that “was ultimately used to set many consumers’ insurance rates.” GM settled without going to trial.
Do you get money from the GM data settlement?
No, not directly. The consent judgment filed in Minnesota says GM pays the $220 million to the participating states. Minnesota’s share is $7,095,664, and the judgment says that money is not set aside as compensation for consumers. If your rates went up because of this data, the settlement does not refund you.
The upshot: the value for drivers is control, not cash. Starting Nov. 30, 2026, GM must get your clear permission before it collects or shares driving and location data, and it must give you simple ways to see and delete what it has. The rights to see and delete your data last until January 2046.
How to check and delete your GM driving data
- Ask GM for a copy. Use GM’s consumer privacy request form or call 1-866-697-7482. The judgment says GM must handle copy requests within 45 days and list the types of companies it shared your data with.
- Ask GM to delete it. The same form handles deletion. GM must confirm it got your request.
- Watch your inbox for GM’s consent email. Between Nov. 30, 2026 and Feb. 28, 2027, GM may email people whose data it kept from before Jan. 16, 2025, asking permission to keep it. If you want it gone, do not agree. If you do nothing for 30 days, GM has to delete it.
- Check what insurers can see. LexisNexis gives one free consumer disclosure report every 12 months at consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com or 866-897-8126. It can include driving behavior data used for car insurance, and you can dispute errors for free.
- Review OnStar settings in your car and app. Turn off any data sharing you did not choose.
One warning: a real GM email will never need your password or payment details to opt out. Treat any message that asks for them as a scam.
What this means for every connected car
GM is not the only automaker with connected cars. Many new cars can send data back to the company that made them. The same habits that protect you on a smart TV apply here, and our guide to stopping your smart TV from tracking what you watch walks through a similar opt out process. When you buy your next car, ask the dealer to show you every data sharing screen and accept nothing on your behalf.
Ellison put other companies on notice too, saying any corporation “secretly collecting consumers’ data without their consent is likely breaking Minnesota law.” For more on how companies use what they know about you, see how Google can use connected Gmail data for ads.
