OnStar Woes: GM is ‘Sharing’ Driving Data with Insurance Companies

GM makes ‘low millions’ selling OnStar Smart Driver data to brokers who assemble risk reports for insurance companies. The good news? You can opt-out.

Back in the 1980s, enthusiasts said computers would ruin hot-rodding. A prediction that was wrong at the time, but may ultimately prove prescient. Case in point, today’s warning for 2015+ Corvette owners in the New York Times concerning OnStar Smart Driver. The feature, built into the myChevrolet mobile app, supposedly “provides driving insights on how you can become a smarter, safer driver,” rating drivers based on instances of hard accelerating, hard braking, wearing a seat belt, and time spent north of 80 mph.

You know… all the things Corvettes are really good at doing.

The catch? Turns out GM sells individual customer driving data — based on those OnStar Smart Driver results — to data brokers who then create and sell “risk reports” for insurance companies checking up on current and potential customers. In other words, your Corvette is tracking how you drive. And if you drive a Corvette like it was meant to be driven, you may find your insurance bills going up dramatically. (Even if you have never caused an accident or gotten a speeding ticket.)

From the Times,

After LexisNexis and Verisk get data from consumers’ cars, they sell information about how people are driving to insurance companies. To access it, the insurance companies must get consent from the drivers — say, when they go out shopping for car insurance and sign off on boilerplate language that gives insurance companies the right to pull third-party reports. (Insurance companies commonly ask for access to a consumer’s credit or risk reports, though they are barred from doing so in California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Hawaii.)

An employee familiar with G.M.’s Smart Driver said the company’s annual revenue from the program is in the low millions of dollars.

GM isn’t alone, of course. The Times reported that data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk collect similar driver-habit data from brands like Kia, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, Acura, and Hyundai. Ford claimed, through a spokesman, that it only shares “driving behavior from a car directly with an insurance company when a customer gives explicit consent via an in-vehicle touch screen.” LexisNexis said that, as of 2022, it had collected telemetric data “from over 10 million vehicles.”

Vehicle Data Tracking Isn’t New, But It’s Optional

Vehicles tracking and recording driving data isn’t new, of course. Most automobiles built after 1996, the same year OnStar launched and the first year of OBD-II, feature a computer that can store data, almost like an airplane’s black box. Crash a car and the police get involved? The computer will tell authorities exactly how you were driving. Need to get warranty service after a blown motor? The computer can tell the dealership how you were driving and whether or not you’ve ever modified the tune.

What IS new, in the last decade or so, is the rise of vehicles with wireless connections, which operate on cellular networks.

OEMs tout wireless connectivity because automakers can remotely update vehicle software and offer more (paid) connected services like navigation, Google apps integration, and more. But the downside, like almost every new electronic device or app sold today, is that automakers like GM are now able to collect live, real-time data about any vehicle.

Fortunately, GM requires consent to share information with data brokers and insurance companies. From the Times,

“GM’s OnStar Smart Driver service is optional to customers,” a G.M. spokeswoman, Malorie Lucich, said. “Customer benefits include learning more about their safe driving behaviors or vehicle performance that, with their consent, may be used to obtain insurance quotes. Customers can also unenroll from Smart Driver at any time.”

The Problem? Many DON’T Know They’re Enrolled

Few people read the full terms and conditions when setting up digital services and subscriptions. But even when the Times checked the myChevrolet app directly about OnStar Smart Driver, there “was no warning or prominent disclosure that any third party would get access to my driving data.” This, obviously, needs to change.

However, when we checked the current OnStar Privacy Statement, under “How We May Share Your Information” in the “Third-Party Business Relationships” paragraph, it says (with our emphasis) —

We may also share data with third parties for marketing activities (with necessary consents) or where you have elected to receive a service from them and/or authorized them to request data from GM (for example, financial organizations who offer financing for the purchase or lease of GM vehicles or usage based insurance providers).

It’s there in black and white, but understandably easy to miss.

Much more alarming, ethically speaking, many consumers, including several CorvetteForum members, have found that they were enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver without knowingly consenting and/or understanding where the data could be shared.

I just went in and opted out of Smart Driver, and urge everyone to do the same. I didn’t sign up for it, so It must have been set up automatically by the dealer or OnStar. Ridiculous! — CutterCade

Fortunately, some dealerships know the score and warn Corvette buyers.

When I took delivery the sales rep was taking me through all the features and helped me pair my iPhone and activate OnStar. While setting up OnStar it asked if I want to enable Smart Driver he declined it then said to me, “never enroll in that given you’ll want to drive this car like your stole it”. He then chuckled. — Maxie2U

What Corvettes Are Affected & What Should You Do?

While the myChevrolet app works with most 2010 or newer GM vehicles, OnStar Smart Driver requires a “capable 2015 model year or newer GM vehicle.” So consider this a PSA for 2015-2019 C7 Corvette owners and 2020+ C8 Corvette owners. GM says that OnStar Smart Driver is “available with any OnStar Safety and Security plan or bundle,” which is a paid subscription service.

In theory, you could unsubscribe to all of OnStar, although you’d be losing features like roadside assistance and remote vehicle unlocking. However, dropping OnStar may not be enough. From the Times, “some drivers with vehicles made by G.M. say they were tracked even when they did not turn on the feature — called OnStar Smart Driver — and that their insurance rates went up as a result.”

As such, we recommend going into your myChevrolet app and making sure that you are NOT specifically enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver regardless of your current OnStar subscription status. Especially since an OnStar trial period is included with all new, and some used, Corvette purchases.

Images: General Motors