The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking to prohibit General Motors (GM) from selling driver data to third parties as part of a settlement agreement following allegations the company sold the data without user permission.
The FTC alleged that GM “collected, used, and sold drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior information from millions of vehicles—data that can be used to set insurance rates—without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their affirmative consent,” said a Jan. 16 statement from the agency.
The issue stems from GM encouraging customers to sign up for its OnStar connected vehicle service and the OnStar Smart Driver feature through a “misleading enrollment process,” the agency said. The company claimed that these tools help users “assess their driving habits.”…