RALEIGH – North Carolina will receive $7,657,771 under a $220 million multistate settlement with General Motors over its handling of drivers’ personal information, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Friday.
The Oct. 30 announcement connects North Carolina to a consumer-privacy enforcement agreement involving 36 attorneys general. The settlement addresses the company’s former OnStar Smart Driver program and imposes requirements on future collection and disclosure of driving and location data.
According to Jackson’s office, GM must obtain consumers’ express consent before collecting or disclosing that information. The agreement also requires limits on data collection, a comprehensive privacy program and dealership oversight and training intended to prevent enrollment without consent.
The payment is a state settlement share. Jackson’s announcement identifies money payable to North Carolina; it does not announce individual checks, a claims application or a per-driver award.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s Oct. 29 announcement describes additional compliance provisions, including regular internal and external assessments of data protection and the company’s privacy program. Washington and Oregon co-led the case, with Maryland serving on the executive committee.
The coalition alleged that the Smart Driver program tracked participants’ location and driving behavior between 2016 and 2024. Maryland’s account says the disputed information included trip timing, rapid braking or acceleration and speeding. Officials alleged that information went to data brokers and then insurers. Those descriptions are allegations resolved through the agreement, not a trial verdict reported here.
GM told TechCrunch the discontinued program ended in 2024 and said the agreement reinforced its privacy improvements.
For North Carolina, the development is both a financial recovery and an exercise of state consumer-protection authority. The announced obligations concern how connected-vehicle information is collected and handled, rather than a new statewide driving rule or insurance-rate schedule.
The North Carolina and Maryland announcements describe settlement requirements, not a finding that every enrolled driver experienced an insurance increase.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of Justice: Oct. 30 settlement announcement
- Maryland attorney general: Oct. 29 settlement requirements
- TechCrunch: independent report and GM response
Photo Credit: Renaissance Center in Detroit, May 29, 2022, by Notorious4life, via Wikimedia Commons; CC0 1.0 public-domain dedication. Cropped and resized. File photograph, not a North Carolina location or the settlement announcement.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.