Last month, a report was published stating that GM’s OnStar was providing customer driving information to data brokers, which in turn provided that data to insurance companies, affecting customers’ insurance premiums. Since that report was filed, GM is now facing a lawsuit alleging that personal driving data was shared without customer consent, an allegation that the automaker denies. Now, a new report dives deeper into the alleged data sharing practices.
Per The New York Times, technology privacy reporter Kashmir Hill outlines how she and her husband have had driving data shared without their knowledge via the OnStar system onboard their 2023 Chevy Bolt EV. According to the report, Hill’s husband requested consumer disclosure files from two data brokers, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, uncovering that their Bolt EV had recorded hundreds of trips, including distance traveled, start and end times, and instances of hard braking and rapid acceleration, all without their knowledge.
According to GM, this data is only collected for those individuals enrolled in the Smart Driver program, which gamifies good driving behavior. Hill states that the couples’ MyChevrolet app indicates that they are not enrolled Smart Driver. However, further investigation revealed that Smart Driver was enabled via a browser version of their MyChevrolet account.
According to GM, the discrepancy between the app and the website is “a bug” that affects a “small population” of customers. However, the New York Times report indicates that many GM owners have outlined a similar experience.
Hill went on to contact the dealership where she had purchased the Chevy Bolt EV. According to the salesman that sold Hill her new car, he indicated that he had indeed enrolled the couple in OnStar, and in fact, he stated that failing to do so would result in a dock in pay. The salesman went on to state that enrollment was mandated by General Motors, and that dealerships received a monthly report card tracking sign-ups.
General Motors is now facing a lawsuit alleging that OnStar’s privacy statement is “neatly hidden” and “made inconspicuous,” adding that the practice is “deceptive, unfair, and misleading to consumers.”
To note, GM Authority previously outlined how to opt out of GM sharing driving data with insurance companies using the mobile app.
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Comments
OnStar is not active where I live since I have a 2009 Equinox equipped and I cannot ask for OnStar after I bought it. But I know that the owner can disable it if they know what to do.
Disabling it requires unplugging three cables from the OnStar box. That part is easy enough. However, getting to the box requires removing a bunch of stuff for access. Not so easy.
Haha my salesman helped me disable onstar when I came to pick the truck up. I was so thankful to not have to deal with their telemarketers when trying to cancel it after the free trial.
I suggest buying that salesman a cold, refreshing malted beverage 🍺
Just went through the Disable instructions for that Safe Driving feature that shares your data, and it STILL doesn’t show up in the app, but DOES show up (enabled!) in the web page version.
A couple of NYT articles and they still have the “bug?”
I work for a GM dealership (9 years). It’s true that we have to online enroll customers for Onstar to receive our earnpower/SFE money but we don’t have to answer yes to the 3rd question in the enrollment to receive our money. The 3rd question, which is yes or no is ” do you want to enroll the customer in the safe driving program” or something to that effect, if that question is checked yes then their driving data will be shared with data collectors. For 9 years I have checked NO on that 3rd question in the online enrollment for every car I have enrolled because it just sounded like a really shady question. I’m probably 1 of the only sales people in the country that checks no every time. And again, our GM money has nothing to do with the answer to that question. This is no “glitch”. Something tells me GM is going to pay out hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars when they lose that class action lawsuit.
I drive a 2002 chevy. I have not, nor have I allow the dealer, to enroll me in their onstar program.
I now own a 2020 Bolt with about 14k miles , which replaceds a 2018 Bolt EV. After service at Celebration Chevrolet in Aurora, Colorado in January 2024, I returned to the dealer to ask whahy the charger cord, which they were supposed to check was still in the exact position I had left it and what the backseat was still up, exposing the EV mirror controller and the batteries. I never did get to take with the service advise because when I put the vehicle in reverse and released the brakes, the car took off full-speed into a utility barrier which I had no control of it. When I put the car in drive to check the damage and release the brake it took off again, full-speed, traveling 2l0 feet into a 2023 Tahoe in their small lot.
When I put it in reverse and released the brake. It took off again, cracking into the utility barrier again. Again, I water to check for damage, so put the car in drive and released the brake. Again the car took off, really ramming into the other vehicle again. With my foot on the brake, the car stalled and the airbags deployed. I was not invited, only traumatized by the event. I have no idea what the service did or didn’t do.
I never touched the accelerator in those 2 minutes of being helpless and powerless. Someone should be held accountable. Needless to say, I took the 2020 Bolt to a more reliable dealer, Len Lyall, Aurora, where I have had no problems at all. I love el the 2020!
According to the chat on the My Chevrolet website, I was “automatically removed from the Smart Driver program on June 26, 2024”. They also said that “as of March 20th (2024), 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.”
Now if I only had a reason to believe GM after they sold all my information without my consent.