Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin talks about a lawsuit his office filed Feb. 26, 2025, against General Motors and OnStar over the use of driving data to develop risk profiles used by insurers to determine premiums and coverage. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)
General Motors and its OnStar subsidiary deceived Arkansas consumers and unjustly enriched themselves by selling driver data that resulted in higher insurance premiums and denial of coverage, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
In a complaint filed in Phillips County, Attorney General Tim Griffin alleges GM and OnStar violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by “deceptively collecting, using, selling and profiting from their customers’ driving data,” which was later sold to insurers and used to increase consumers’ insurance rates or deny them coverage.
Arkansas’ suit comes a month after the Federal Trade Commission filed a proposed order banning GM from selling geolocation and driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years.
Griffin’s complaint says the automaker and its subsidiary promoted the technology as enhancing driver and vehicle safety, but the “deceptive onboarding process” fails to allow customers informed consent for the collection and resale of their data.
“Even if an Arkansan carefully read every word on the screen, the disclosures and linked policies would still not inform the customer of GM’s actual conduct,” Griffin said in a morning press conference. “The process does not obtain informed consent from the customer.”
The onboarding process, typically done at the dealership before the buyer drives off the lot, is made to appear mandatory, the lawsuit says. The disclosures never explain that by selecting “I accept,” the consumer agrees to the collection and sale of their driving data, which would then be used to develop risk profiles that insurers could use, according to the lawsuit.
“Consumers could not have known that their data would be sold to insurance companies,” it says.
GM and OnStar monitored and sold detailed customer driving data to third-party data brokers for over 10 years, according to the complaint.
“Third-party data brokers develop driver-risk profiles and resell that data to insurance companies who use the information to upcharge premiums and deny or cancel coverage,” the complaint says.
The automaker and its technology firm “never inform customers” that they sell the driving data and “do not disclose that they collaborate” with data brokers to develop risk profiles, it says.
“GM and OnStar also do not tell consumers that the driving data could be used to penalize them,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the defendants prohibiting them “from continuing to treat Arkansas consumers unlawfully, unconscionably, and deceptively.” It also seeks civil penalties of $10,000 per violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Griffin said in the press conference that the automaker’s alleged deception came to his attention through a New York Times article last year. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a similar deceptive business practices lawsuit against the automaker last August.
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