GM is prohibited from sharing driving and location data with insurance companies

We regularly hear stories about it selling companies your sensitive personal information — including your location data – to the highest bidder. The latest culprit appears to be General Motors.

The Federal Trade Commission claims that GM and Onstar – GM’s subscription-based car safety and security system – collected, used and sold drivers’ accurate geolocation data and driving behavior data from millions of vehicles without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their consent.

Thursday, the agency ordered with his proposal prohibiting the company from selling such information to consumer reporting agencies for five years.

In its complaint, the FTC alleged that GM used a “misleading enrollment process” to get consumers to sign up for Onstar. Some users reported that they were unaware that they had opted in to Onstar’s Smart Driver feature, which promises drivers to use driving data to improve their car’s performance and encourage safer driving.

“GM tracked and sold people’s precise geolocation data and driver behavior data, sometimes as often as every three seconds,” FTC Chairwoman Lina M. Khan said in a statement.

It’s the latest issue to engulf the automaker giant in recent weeks. last month, GM pulled the plug About funding for GM’s autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise, in which it has invested more than $10 billion.

Thursday’s settlement with the FTC includes the following Kashmir Hill investigation by The New York Timeswhich found that GM collected details about its customers’ driving habits, including every hard brake, night driving and speeding, and sold the records to insurance companies and third-party data brokers . As a result, drivers began to see higher insurance premiums, but could not understand why.

The potential misuse of customer data goes beyond increased insurance premiums. A person’s geolocation data can reveal the most intimate details of a person’s life, including where they live and work, and whether they visit a medical facility or place of worship. In the wrong hands, location data poses a serious threat to abortion seekers across the country, for example.

As part of the FTC’s proposed order — if upheld by the court — GM and Onstar would be prohibited from disclosing data to consumer reporting agencies and must obtain affirmative consent from consumers before collecting any future vehicle data. The car manufacturer must allow customers to access and delete their data, as well as limit the collection of data from vehicles.

Because it’s still a proposed ordinance, the agreement will be subject to a 30-day public comment period before a final decision goes into effect.

TechCrunch has reached out to GM and the FTC for more information and will update if we hear back.