General Motors faces FTC crackdown over driver data harvesting

The practice relied on the Smart Driver feature, bundled within OnStar connected services plans. Many vehicle owners activated the tracking unknowingly, consenting to data collection through opaque enrollment processes. Once harvested, this telemetry reached brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk, which subsequently calculated insurance premiums based on the captured metrics.

An investigation by The New York Times revealed that unsuspecting drivers faced sudden rate hikes directly linked to these undisclosed digital dossiers. Under the terms of the settlement, General Motors must now provide clear mechanisms for users to disable location tracking, alongside new mandates allowing customers to access and purge their personal driving history. While the FTC action targets GM, the broader automotive industry continues to operate as a massive, largely unregulated data vacuum.