The OnStar Smart Driver feature was recently updated to include a new fuel economy tracking tool, enabling drivers to maximize their miles per gallon. The new feature is available across the GM myBrand apps, including myBuick, myCadillac, myChevrolet, and myGMC. The update follows a report shedding light on how driving data collected by OnStar can make its way to insurance companies, potentially increasing drivers’ insurance rates.
After updating the myBrand app and OnStar Smart Driver feature to the latest software version, users will be greeted with a welcome screen announcing the new fuel economy tracking tool.
“You asked, we listened,” the greeting reads. “Track your vehicle’s fuel economy with OnStar Smart Driver.”
In the OnStar Smart Driver feature, users will find the “Trip Stats” tab, which includes figures on the related vehicle’s fuel economy under Recent Trips.
Smart Driver is a feature offered as part of the OnStar service that is designed to help drivers improve safety behind the wheel, while also reducing wear and tear on their vehicle and improving fuel efficiency. Smart Driver gamifies driver safety by providing a score on things like hard braking and acceleration. The program is also intended to provide insurance discounts for safe drivers.
However, a recent report indicates that driver data collected by the OnStar Smart Driver feature may also be provided to data brokers, who in turn provide that data to insurance companies, potentially affecting customers’ insurance premiums. The practice is a growing trend among automakers, and consumers may be unaware of their involvement, as consent can be buried in fine print and obscure privacy policies.
One Cadillac customer in Florida recently filed a lawsuit against GM alleging that their insurance premiums increased dramatically as a result of driving data shared, without their consent, through OnStar.
GM Authority recently published a step-by-step guide on how GM customers can opt out of GM sharing driving data with insurance companies.
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On Friday, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly declined to comment on the lawsuit, but he sent the Detroit Free Press the following statement: “As of March 20th, OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk. Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.”
Thank you SW!
As a sales rep, my best pitch for OnStar is…You don’t need that! Can it be beneficial? Yes but your cellphone can probably handle it. Anything labeled smart is spying on you. We have enough spying already.
The word, “share” sound so friendly and sanitized.
They are selling your data to a broker, which in turn sells it to other companies. It is not unusual for the third party companies to get hacked. Before you know it everyone has your data.
Fuel economy info was already available in the vehicle brand app. Cynical me suspects the evil bastards moved it under the “smart driver’ umbrella to twist the arm of users into “opting in” to this nefarious data selling spy feature.
Pay attention folks, this kind of crap is going to be standard practice as the industry moves to so called software defined vehicles. You buy a vehicle (“hardware “) but the maker decides, via software, what capabilities it will have. You pay more to get more. Then one day a feature disappears. You complain but get told since you didn’t explicitly pay for that 1 feature, the maker was free to remove it. It’s already happening within infotainment systems, which have had ota updates that eliminate abilities to do things like read text messages or view video while parked.
Aftermarket opportunity??? 😈😈😈 ECU masters will just make a program that “unlocks all” and you pay for the entry level car, and buy a 2 grand tune to get everything you want. Most of the MBA’s making these decisions are morons anyways.
Yes to all of the comments here thus far. What people need is a law to specifically states that one’s data is their property and they alone own it and they alone manage it.