Detroit automaker General Motors is under legal action for allegedly violating customers’ privacy by collecting and selling their driving data without permission.
As initially reported by Motor 1, GM argued to have the case dismissed, stating that “driving a vehicle—which necessarily involves conduct that takes place on public roads—cannot form the basis for any privacy-based claim.”
The lawsuit was filed in Georgia, where observing someone in public is not considered an invasion of privacy. Many U.S. states follow the ‘Restatement of Torts’, which says that observing a person’s public behavior, even on public highways, does not violate privacy since such conduct is visible and open to the public.
The plaintiffs alleged that automaker violated the ‘Federal Wiretap Act’, the ‘Stored Communications Act’, and the ‘Computer Fraud and Abuse Act’, claiming that they had a “reasonable expectation of privacy” regarding their driving behavior. However, the company argued that “roadways are public, and these behaviors are observed by all.”
The company also stated to have discontinued its Smart Driver program in April 2024, which was collecting driver data. LexisNexis and Verisk, defendants in the case as they purchased driving data from GM, additionally mentioned that “courts consistently hold there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in driving activity on public roads.”
GM backed its defense in a 2015 case regarding drone surveillance in public, where the court determined that it was not an invasion of privacy. “Driving data includes vehicle location, driving routes, braking events, and speed, all of which occur on ‘public thoroughfares’,” the carmaker stated.
Data Collection Ban
In April 2024, New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill reported that GM‘s data collection included exact geolocation, driving behavior throughout the trip and even what radio station was playing in the vehicle.
“LexisNexis report had a breakdown of the 203 trips we had taken in the car since January, including the distance, the start and end times, and how often we hard-braked or accelerated rapidly”, Hill stated.
The NYT reporter added that “in the case of General Motors, affected drivers weren’t informed, and the tracking led insurance companies to charge some of them more for premiums.”
In January, the Federal Trade Comission (FCT) took action against GM and OnStar, its subsidiary, for allegedly collecting, using, and selling “drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior information from millions of vehicles without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their affirmative consent.”
The FCT banned earlier this year GM from “disclosing consumers’ sensitive geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies” for five years.
“Tracking and collecting geolocation data can be extremely privacy invasive, revealing some of the most intimate details about a person’s life, such as whether they visited a hospital or other medical facility, and expose their daily routines,” the Comission added.
General Motors delivered 693,363 units in the first quarter, a 16.7% increase from last year. The company highlighted strong performances from its Buick and Cadillac brands, and will report its first quarter results on April 29.
