Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against General Motors (GM) for allegedly engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading business practices through the unlawful collection and sale of private driving data from over 1.5 million Texas residents. The lawsuit claims that GM collected this data without the knowledge or consent of the vehicle owners and subsequently sold it to various companies, including insurance providers.
The legal action follows an investigation initiated by Attorney General Paxton in June 2024 concerning allegations that multiple car manufacturers were improperly gathering extensive data about drivers directly from their vehicles and then selling this information to third parties. According to Paxton, the investigation revealed that GM violated Texans’ privacy and legal rights by using technology installed in most 2015 or newer GM vehicles to collect, record, analyze, and transmit detailed driving data.
The lawsuit states that GM sold this driving data to several companies, including at least two entities that used the information to generate “Driving Scores.” These scores were then sold to insurance companies. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that GM compelled customers to enroll in services such as OnStar Smart Driver during the vehicle onboarding process, suggesting that not enrolling would result in the deactivation of the vehicle’s safety features. Customers were reportedly unaware that enrolling in these services meant agreeing to the collection and sale of their driving data, despite the presence of lengthy and complex disclosures.
This lawsuit is part of a broader data privacy and security initiative launched by Attorney General Paxton in June 2024, aimed at ensuring companies respect privacy rights and comply with privacy protection laws.
As consumer electronics become smarter, to include vehicles, expect more lawsuits like this. Worst is where user data is being sold to a third party and there is no lawsuit or discovery of the practice. This is one of the main reasons we prioritize keeping our data local only as much as possible. Because if you aren’t being sold a service ( and sometimes when you are ! ) then your data is the service.
You can view the full legal filing here.
