COLUMBUS, Ohio (AVC News) — Ohio will receive more than $8 million as part of a multistate settlement requiring General Motors to pay $220 million over allegations that the automaker improperly sold consumers’ driving behavior and location data to third parties.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced the agreement Thursday alongside a coalition of 36 attorneys general. Ohio’s share of the settlement is $8,076,105.
The agreement requires GM to obtain consumers’ express consent before collecting or disclosing driving and location data.
From 2016 to 2024, GM enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program, which tracked driving habits. The company promoted the program as a way for drivers to improve their driving safety and told consumers their information would not be shared with insurance companies without their consent.
However, investigators alleged GM sold the data to insurance brokers, which then provided it to insurance companies for use in adjusting premiums based on driving behavior. The company did not disclose the data sales to consumers.
Many drivers enrolled in Smart Driver at the dealerships where they purchased their vehicles. GM used a single sign-up process to enroll customers in both Smart Driver and its OnStar services.
At the time, GM was offering dealerships incentives to increase OnStar enrollment. Sales employees received bonuses based partly on the number of customers enrolled in connected vehicle services, with dealerships ranked according to enrollment numbers.
The settlement also addresses problems with GM’s OnStar application. The app mistakenly told approximately 380,000 drivers they were not enrolled in Smart Driver, even though GM was collecting and selling their data. GM later unenrolled those drivers without notifying them of the mistake, while their previously collected information remained with insurance brokers and companies.
Under the agreement, GM must limit the driving data it collects and implement a comprehensive data privacy program to protect consumers’ personal information. The requirements include internal and external assessments of its data protection and privacy practices.
GM also agreed to oversight and training requirements at its dealerships intended to protect consumers from data collection practices without their consent.
Wilson said the company violated consumers’ trust by selling their information without their knowledge and consent.
“Ohioans should not have to worry that the information collected by their own vehicles will be used against them,” Wilson said. “Companies must be held accountable when they put profits ahead of consumers’ privacy.”
Ohio was among 36 states and jurisdictions participating in the agreement. The coalition also included Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The full settlement announcement is available through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Briefing-Room/News-Releases/2026-10-29_GM.aspx.
