General Motors Stops Sharing Data With Insurance Companies Following Backlash

General Motors found itself embroiled in controversy after some OnStar Smart Driver users saw their insurance rates increase dramatically.

Earlier this month, the New York Times dropped a bit of a journalistic bomb on the automotive world when it uncovered a rather unsettling fact – General Motors had been sharing data with a pair of companies that was then being used to create risk scores for insurance providers. However, this wasn’t the shocking bit, as this is common practice with usage-based insurance plans – rather,  in some cases, that data was being collected without the owner’s knowledge or even consent via a feature called OnStar Smart Driver. Now, just a couple of weeks after that report surfaced, General Motors has ended this practice, according to the New York Times.

“OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk,” said General Motors spokeswoman Malorie Lucich via an emailed statement. “Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.”

While the collection of data to determine insurance rates is nothing new, there is/was one big problem here – a number of OnStar Smart Driver users apparently weren’t aware that this was happening, as there was no obvious disclaimer warning them during the enrollment process – rather, that info was somewhat buried in legal disclosures that few tend to read. The other problem stems from the fact that eager salespeople were reportedly signing customers up for this feature without their knowledge, apparently in an attempt to collect bonuses for higher enrollment figures.

That data includes information pertaining to mileage, braking, acceleration, and speed – and in the case of OnStar Smart Driver, is used to provide feedback on how well someone is driving, even handing out badges for good results. However, that data was also being shared with LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, who then sold it to insurance companies in the form of risk reports that – in some cases – resulted in higher premiums for a number of users.

In fact, somewhat shockingly, one user reported seeing their insurance rates nearly double, after which a bit of investigation uncovered this disturbing fact. There are around eight million total users enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver at the moment, a feature that reportedly generates a few million dollars in annual revenue for General Motors, but it’s unclear how many people are aware that their data was being shared in this manner, nor how many may have been enrolled without their consent.

Perhaps more concerning are people — like CorvetteForum member Walter White Coupe — who NEVER signed up for OnStar Smart Driver, yet still found their driving data on a LexisNexus report —

I never signed up for Smart Driver and never paid for OnStar. When I called OnStar they said I was not enrolled in Smart Driver. And the website said I was not enrolled. Use the links to see if they have yours.

• Request your LexisNexis report: https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumer
• Request your Verisk report: https://fcra.verisk.com/#/

LexusNexis and Verisk had my driving history day by day from the day I bought the C8 back in Sep 2023 until March 17, 2024.

It records: Dates/# of Trips/Speeding events (over 80)/Hard Braking events (Less that 9.5kph/s)/Rapid Acceleration Events (more than 9.5kph/s)/Driving minutes/Night time Driving days/Mileage per day)

I’m a relatively conservative driver and the totals don’t look good.
I suspect the damage has already been done and I’m very concerned about my next insurance renewal.

It’s a messy situation for certain, but also one that helps shed some much-needed light on data privacy practices. As one might imagine, several other automakers collect this same sort of data from customers, and a few – like Ford – claim that they only do so when consent is granted by users. Problem is, with the rise of connected-vehicle technology, it’s difficult to really know what’s being collected and who it’s being shared with, unless we read through privacy statements and other legal notices regarding every feature our vehicles have – and in many cases, we have to opt in to use automaker apps and features like locking/unlocking doors, remote start, and vehicle locators, anyway.

What has YOUR experience been with this GM data-sharing controversy?
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Photos: General Motors

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