Maine will receive more than $2.8 million from General Motors for selling drivers’ private location and behavior data.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey joined a coalition of 36 attorneys general in the case against GM.
The settlement, announced by the AG’s office on Thursday, required GM to pay the states a total of $220 million. Additionally, GM must limit the driving data it collects and protect drivers’ personal information going forward and delete that data upon the consumer’s request.
The lawsuit alleged that GM sold drivers’ data to third parties, including data brokers who then sold the data to insurance companies. The data was used by insurance companies as a factor in setting rates.
From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program, which tracked their driving habits. The company pitched the tool as a way for drivers to improve their own driving safety but sold the data to insurance companies after telling drivers that would not happen without their express consent, according to the AG’s office.
GM bundled the Smart Driver program with OnStar services. Sales employees received bonuses and were ranked based in part on how many customers they signed up for the services. In many cases, dealership employees accepted terms and conditions on behalf of customers without their consent, the AG’s office said.
Data received by insurers included how many times a person drove their vehicle, the start and end times of each drive, how many times they braked or accelerated quickly, and whether they went faster than the speed limit, according to the AG’s office.
A 2024 New York Times investigation found that the insurance companies used the information provided by GM to change rates, sometimes increasing drivers’ premiums. GM discontinued the Smart Driver program after the Times’ report.
In a statement on Friday, GM highlighted that the program was discontinued and said the settlement agreement “reinforces steps we’ve taken to strengthen our privacy practices. Safer, more helpful and personalized experiences are enabled by connected vehicle data, and GM is committed to being clear about what information is used, how it’s protected, and the choices customers have about what they share.”
According to the settlement, the money Maine receives from GM “may be used for purposes that may include, but are not limited to, attorneys’ fees, and other costs of investigation and litigation, or be placed in, or applied to, any consumer protection law enforcement fund, including future consumer protection or privacy enforcement, consumer education, litigation or local consumer aid fund or revolving fund, used to defray the costs of the inquiry leading hereto, or for other uses permitted by state law, at the sole discretion of the Attorney General of Maine, or any purpose allowable under state law.”
A spokesperson from the AG’s office on Friday described it as a law enforcement case as opposed to a restitution case, such as a class action lawsuit that would compensate victims. Such settlements in Maine and other states typically support consumer protection operations, the spokesperson said.
The case was co-led by Washington and Oregon, assisted by the Executive Committee of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Utah, and Vermont, and also joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, the District Of Columbia, Florida, Hawai’i, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
