(California) General Motors to pay $12.75M to settle consumer protection lawsuit

[Eugene]

Source: City News Service

General Motors to pay $12.75M to settle consumer protection lawsuit

The sold data included names, phone numbers, home addresses.

By City News Service • Published 4 hours ago • Updated 4 hours ago

General Motors will pay $12.75 million to resolve a civil lawsuit alleging that from 2020-24, the company unlawfully sold hundreds of thousands of OnStar subscribers' personal information and driving data to third-party data brokers in violation of California's privacy, false advertising and unfair competition laws, officials announced Friday.

The lawsuit, filed by the California Attorney General and the District Attorneys of Los Angeles, Napa, San Francisco and Sonoma counties with support from the California Privacy Protection Agency, alleges that from 2016 to 2024, General Motors collected and kept driver- and driving-related data from hundreds of thousands of Californians who had subscribed to OnStar, a vehicle connectivity service offered by General Motors.

The data included names, phone numbers, home addresses, speeds, rapid acceleration and hard braking, as well as the GPS location of where OnStar subscribers drove and parked their vehicles.

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Read more: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/general-motors-to-pay-12-75m-to-settle-consumer-protection-lawsuit/3888298/

[MichMan]

1. Are those affected sharing the $12.7 million ?

[Eugene]

2. Not directly at least. It appears to be a civil penalty according to LA County's District Attorney.

May 8, 2026: General Motors to Pay $12.75M to Settle California Consumer Protection Lawsuit Alleging Data Privacy Violations (Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office)

Under the settlement, subject to court approval, General Motors must pay civil penalties totaling $12.75 million. With respect to California OnStar customers, General Motors must:

● Stop selling driving data to any consumer reporting agencies for five years, including to data brokers like Lexis and Verisk;
● Delete any driving data retained by the company within 180 days, except for certain limited internal uses, absent affirmative, express consent from consumers;
● Request Lexis and Verisk delete driving data;
● Develop and maintain a robust privacy program that is required to assess, mitigate, and document the risks of collecting data through OnStar and ensure that General Motors complies with the California Consumer Privacy Act;
● Report its privacy assessments to the California Department of Justice, the California Privacy Protection Agency and the district attorneys’ offices of Los Angeles, Napa, San Francisco and Sonoma counties.

https://da.lacounty.gov/media/news/general-motors-pay-1275m-settle-california-consumer-protection-lawsuit-alleging-data