{
  "type": "NewsArticle",
  "url": "https://sonomos.ai/newsroom/36-attorneys-general-gm-220-million-driver-data-settlement/",
  "slug": "36-attorneys-general-gm-220-million-driver-data-settlement",
  "title": "General Motors to pay $220 million to 36 attorneys general over sale of drivers' location and behavior data",
  "summary": "A coalition of 36 state attorneys general says GM sold Smart Driver data to brokers that supplied insurers. GM will pay $220 million and must get express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data.",
  "section": "Privacy",
  "category": "privacy",
  "format": "news",
  "tags": [
    "driver data",
    "location data",
    "state attorneys general",
    "consent",
    "data brokers"
  ],
  "published_at": "2026-10-31T13:13:24.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T13:13:24.000Z",
  "word_count": 480,
  "publisher": {
    "name": "Sonomos Newsroom",
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  "followed_by": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "number": 1,
      "title": "AG Jennings announces $220 million settlement with General Motors for selling sensitive driver data",
      "publisher": "Delaware Department of Justice",
      "url": "https://news.delaware.gov/2026/10/29/ag-jennings-announces-220-million-settlement-with-general-motors-for-selling-sensitive-driver-data/",
      "published": "2026-10-29",
      "accessed": "2026-10-31"
    },
    {
      "number": 2,
      "title": "Attorney General Jones secures $6.5 million for the Commonwealth in General Motors data privacy settlement",
      "publisher": "Office of the Attorney General of Virginia",
      "url": "https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3145-attorney-general-jones-secures-6-5-million-for-the-commonwealth-in-general-motors-data-privacy-settlement",
      "published": "2026-10-29",
      "accessed": "2026-10-31"
    }
  ],
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    "method": "automated-source-check",
    "checked_at": "2026-10-31T13:13:24.000Z",
    "description": "https://sonomos.ai/newsroom/standards/",
    "claims": [
      {
        "claim": "GM will pay $220 million to resolve a 36-attorney-general coalition's allegations that it sold driver behavior and location data.",
        "source": 1,
        "source_url": "https://news.delaware.gov/2026/10/29/ag-jennings-announces-220-million-settlement-with-general-motors-for-selling-sensitive-driver-data/"
      },
      {
        "claim": "GM must obtain affirmative express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data.",
        "source": 2,
        "source_url": "https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3145-attorney-general-jones-secures-6-5-million-for-the-commonwealth-in-general-motors-data-privacy-settlement"
      },
      {
        "claim": "The OnStar app wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled, and GM still collected and sold their data.",
        "source": 1,
        "source_url": "https://news.delaware.gov/2026/10/29/ag-jennings-announces-220-million-settlement-with-general-motors-for-selling-sensitive-driver-data/"
      },
      {
        "claim": "Virginia's release describes the settlement as the first announced under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act.",
        "source": 2,
        "source_url": "https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3145-attorney-general-jones-secures-6-5-million-for-the-commonwealth-in-general-motors-data-privacy-settlement"
      }
    ]
  },
  "corrections": [],
  "body_markdown": "General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations by a coalition of 36 state attorneys general that it sold drivers' behavior and location data without proper authorization, according to [Delaware's announcement](https://news.delaware.gov/2026/10/29/ag-jennings-announces-220-million-settlement-with-general-motors-for-selling-sensitive-driver-data/) on October 29, 2026. The settlement also requires GM to obtain express consent before collecting or disclosing that kind of data. The allegations are the states' claims, resolved by settlement.\n\n## What the states allege\n\nAccording to Delaware's release, GM enrolled millions of car buyers from 2016 to 2024 in OnStar Smart Driver, a feature that tracked driving habits and location history. The state says GM marketed the tool as a way to improve safety and told drivers it would not share their data with insurers without express consent.\n\nInvestigators found that GM sold the data to data brokers under contracts stating it would be used for insurance products, the release says. The brokers then sold it to insurers, which used it in part to set premiums. The data included trip counts, start and end times, hard braking, rapid acceleration and speeding. [Virginia's release](https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3145-attorney-general-jones-secures-6-5-million-for-the-commonwealth-in-general-motors-data-privacy-settlement) says GM did not disclose the insurance purpose to drivers. Neither release names the brokers.\n\nThe states also describe how people were enrolled. Most signed up at a dealership, where, the releases say, employees allegedly accepted terms on customers' behalf without consent, and sales staff received bonuses based partly on enrollment numbers. Delaware says the OnStar app wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled, yet GM still collected and sold their data. GM later unenrolled them without telling them and left their data with brokers and insurers, according to the release. GM discontinued Smart Driver in June 2024, Delaware says.\n\n## What GM must do\n\nVirginia's release says GM must obtain \"affirmative express consent\" from consumers before collecting or disclosing driving and location data. Both states describe further terms:\n\n- a comprehensive data privacy program, with limits on the driving data GM collects;\n- internal and external privacy assessments, and board-level oversight, per Delaware;\n- oversight and training at dealerships to prevent enrollment in data collection without consent.\n\nDelaware's release does not mention a requirement to delete data already sold.\n\n## Payments and legal basis\n\nDelaware says it will receive $4,726,779. Virginia says its share is $6,541,173. Virginia describes the case as the first settlement announced under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, and says the terms are set out in a consent judgment filed with the Richmond Circuit Court for judicial approval. Delaware lists Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Utah and Vermont among the participating states; Virginia says Washington and Oregon co-led the case.\n\n## What is unresolved\n\nThe releases do not say how much of the $220 million each of the 36 states will receive beyond the two shares above, or whether drivers will be compensated. Court approval of the consent judgment is described as pending in Virginia's release.",
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