GM Once More Accused of Covertly Selling Americans' Driving Data | Carscoops

      A lawsuit in Arkansas alleges that GM employed "dark patterns" to manipulate customers into unknowingly sharing their data.

      The lawsuit asserts that GM gathered information from more than 100,000 vehicles in Arkansas without obtaining consent.

      It is claimed that GM analyzed various aspects, including acceleration, braking, and instances of late-night driving from customers.

      This lawsuit follows a 2024 report by the New York Times, which revealed that GM sold data to two brokers.

      If you believed your car was merely a means of transportation, reconsider, as it's a treasure trove for data brokers. The Arkansas Attorney General's office, led by Tim Griffin, has initiated legal action against General Motors and OnStar for allegedly selling driving data to insurance firms.

      This case is part of an expanding list of lawsuits targeting car manufacturers for the collection and sale of user data. In August of the previous year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued General Motors for similar allegations, and recently, companies like Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, and FCA have also faced similar legal challenges.

      According to the lawsuit filed in Phillips County Circuit Court, GM has been monitoring and selling in-depth customer driving data to third-party brokers for over a decade. The data purportedly collected by GM includes vehicle speed, high-speed driving percentage, late-night driving habits, distance traveled, as well as acceleration and braking patterns. This suggests a company eager to learn everything about its customers' driving behaviors—even during their solitary drives on empty highways at 3 a.m.

      Without Consent for Data Collection

      The lawsuit claims that GM has been selling this data for many years without obtaining explicit consent from drivers, involving information from over 100,000 vehicles in Arkansas alone.

      Even more alarming is the allegation that GM didn't just gather data from OnStar users, but from anyone utilizing any GM mobile application or activating an internet connection in their vehicle. Essentially, if you have ever accessed Wi-Fi in a GM vehicle, they may have been tracking you, regardless of whether you signed up for OnStar services.

      Accusations of “Dark Patterns”

      The lawsuit also charges GM with employing “dark patterns,” a design strategy intended to mislead customers into agreeing to terms they might otherwise reject by exploiting consumers’ cognitive biases to obscure crucial information necessary for making informed decisions.

      It is claimed that GM sold driving data to third-party exchanges, initially receiving a lump sum for an initial batch, followed by ongoing payments for additional data provided in subsequent years.

      Arkansas’ investigation follows about a year after The New York Times disclosed that several automakers were selling sensitive driving information and sharing it with insurance firms. GM was identified as having sold information to data brokers LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk.

      During a press conference regarding the lawsuit, which was covered by Eldorado News, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin highlighted the lack of transparency in these practices. “No one was notified this was occurring. Even if an Arkansan meticulously read every word on the sign-up screen, all the disclosures, all the link policies, and devoted the time required to do so—often under time pressure and just clicking through—it would still not disclose GM’s actual conduct,” he stated.

      In essence, the "fine print" is evidently much finer than consumers may have realized.