For years, General Motors collected data on how its customers drove and sold it to companies working with the insurance sector.
Location, speed, acceleration, hard braking and night driving. For years, General Motors collected this information through OnStar and the Smart Driver programme.
Some of the data was shared with LexisNexis and Verisk, companies that also work with the insurance sector and produce reports used to assess driver risk. Information gathered while driving could therefore contribute to profiles used by insurance companies and affect policy premiums.
In 2024, an investigation by the New York Times brought the case to public attention, and GM ended Smart Driver and its relationships with LexisNexis and Verisk. In January 2026, the Federal Trade Commission barred the company for five years from providing certain geolocation and driving data to companies that produce consumer reports. In May, GM also reached a $12.75 million settlement with California authorities. According to the investigation, GM had generated about $20 million from selling data to LexisNexis and Verisk.
GM is not an exception. In 2023, Mozilla reviewed the privacy practices of 25 major car brands, and none met its criteria.
The DRIVER Act, introduced at the end of 2025, starts from an apparently simple principle: people who own a car should have greater control over the data it generates, know what information is collected and be able to exercise rights over it.
The proposal does not prevent cars from collecting large quantities of information or prohibit manufacturers from selling it altogether. It mainly introduces greater access rights and, for certain data, the option to object to its sale.
The right to request deletion of personal data differs from the right not to generate it in the first place.
Slate Auto is developing an electric pickup truck in the United States without an integrated cellular modem. The vehicle therefore does not maintain an independent, permanent connection to the manufacturer’s servers. Some data may still be transmitted through the app, for example for diagnostics and assistance, but Slate says it will not sell the data it collects.
Limiting data collection at the source has become a way for Slate Auto to differentiate itself. If data collection has become standard, collecting less data may become a competitive distinction.
