Texas AG Paxton sues General Motors for secretly collecting and selling driver data
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit accusing GM of illegally selling the private driving data of 1.5 million Texans.
The lawsuit follows an investigation the AG's office announced in June looking at several car manufacturers' undisclosed collection of driver data, and the sale of that data to insurance companies.
A New York Times report in March detailed GM's sales of driver data to broker LexisNexis, through an optional data-collection program that also scooped up driver data without the drivers' consent. As Sherwood News reported in May, many other carmakers use similar tracking technology, and those companies have made opting out maddeningly difficult.
“Our investigation revealed that General Motors has engaged in egregious business practices that violated Texans’ privacy and broke the law. We will hold them accountable,” wrote Paxton in a statement.
The lawsuit claims that GM dealers pressured customers to enroll in the connected car services that enabled the collection when buying their cars, burying the privacy details of the program at the end of lengthy agreements. The use of "dark patterns" in the data services agreement was also detailed, such as displaying ominous warning screens when users declined to enroll in the program.
Today's connected vehicles supply a firehose of detailed car data, including location and driving behavior. Insurance providers offering usage based insurance is one of the biggest applications of driver data, but the connected vehicle data industry has struggled to live up to expectations.
"Millions of American drivers wanted to buy a car, not a comprehensive surveillance system that unlawfully records information about every drive they take and sells their data to any company willing to pay for it," wrote Paxton.
A New York Times report in March detailed GM's sales of driver data to broker LexisNexis, through an optional data-collection program that also scooped up driver data without the drivers' consent. As Sherwood News reported in May, many other carmakers use similar tracking technology, and those companies have made opting out maddeningly difficult.
“Our investigation revealed that General Motors has engaged in egregious business practices that violated Texans’ privacy and broke the law. We will hold them accountable,” wrote Paxton in a statement.
The lawsuit claims that GM dealers pressured customers to enroll in the connected car services that enabled the collection when buying their cars, burying the privacy details of the program at the end of lengthy agreements. The use of "dark patterns" in the data services agreement was also detailed, such as displaying ominous warning screens when users declined to enroll in the program.
Today's connected vehicles supply a firehose of detailed car data, including location and driving behavior. Insurance providers offering usage based insurance is one of the biggest applications of driver data, but the connected vehicle data industry has struggled to live up to expectations.
"Millions of American drivers wanted to buy a car, not a comprehensive surveillance system that unlawfully records information about every drive they take and sells their data to any company willing to pay for it," wrote Paxton.
