The FTC has banned General Motors from selling driving data for five years

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against General Motors and OnStar for allegedly sharing driver information with third parties without their consent. The agency launched an investigation into the car company later The New York Times that GM collected data related to customer vehicle usage and sold it to third-party platforms used by insurance companies.

The data came from the OnStar Smart Driver program, which customers with GM vehicles were encouraged to participate in or did not realize they had agreed to participate in. The app collected data on behaviors such as hard braking, late-night driving and speeding and allegedly sold that information to LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, which in turn sold the data to insurance companies. Soon after Time report, GM he said had stopped sharing confidential information with the two data vendors.

Today, the FTC proposed a ruling that would bar GM and OnStar from disclosing consumer location and driver behavior to consumer reporting agencies for five years. These companies will also be required to take steps to increase transparency and choice for customers around the information they collect and share.

“GM monitors and sells content and traffic to drivers, sometimes as little as every three seconds,” FTC Chairwoman Lina M. Khan said. . “With this, the FTC is protecting the privacy of Americans and protecting them from surveillance.”