How companies collect and share our personal data has become a major source of tension as of late, one that culminated earlier this month when the New York Times published a damning report outlining some unsavory practices that Ford’s cross-town rival – General Motors – has been engaging in. As part of its OnStar Smart Driver feature – which, in some cases, was apparently being activated without owners’ consent or knowledge – driving data was being shared with third-party companies like LexisNexis to create risk scores, which in turn were used by insurance companies to raise premiums in some cases. Ford was quick to note that it doesn’t share this data with those companies, nor does it collect it without consent from owners. Now, after a lawsuit was filed against GM following this report, the automaker has ended its data sharing policy, according to GM Authority.
GM has ended its relationship with LexisNexis and Verisk, the two companies it was previously sharing that data with. OnStar “customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk” Kevin Kelly, a General Motors spokesman, said in a statement, adding “customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.”
However, this news comes just days after a lawsuit was filed against the automaker, and mere weeks since the NYT report was published. The lawsuit – filed by Romeo Chicco, who owns a 2021 Cadillac XT6 – alleges that his driving data was shared by GM with LexisNexis, specifically. Chicco claims that he never opted in to the OnStar Smart Driver feature, but says that his personal data was shared with the third-party companies, regardless.
Chicco made this discovery when he was denied coverage by Liberty Mutual, which noted that he had taken 258 trips and engaged in aggressive practices such as “acceleration events, hard brake events, and high speed events.” He later discovered that this information was shared by GM with LexisNexis, reportedly without his consent, which is also the case with a handful of other owners, allegedly.
We’ll have more on automaker privacy practices soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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