Topline
General Motors announced Wednesday it is discontinuing OnStar Smart Driver, an optional program that provided users with data about their driving, across all of its vehicles, doing so after complaints surfaced about privacy violations and how user information was shared with data analytics companies LexisNexis and Verisk.
The General Motors logo is displayed at a Chevrolet dealership on Aug. 4, 2021 in Burbank, ... [+]
Key Facts
Smart Driver users will be unenrolled from the program in addition to the software being removed from GM vehicles, the statement said.
LexisNexis and Verisk shared personal data with insurance companies as part of the Smart Driver program, The New York Times reported, noting some GM vehicle owners didn’t know they consented to the program or that their insurance rates increased because of it.
Detailed information on drivers’ habits and activity, including rapid accelerations and hard braking, were used to create a risk score for insurance companies to use as a factor in creating “more personalized insurance coverage,” LexisNexis spokesman Dean Carney told the Times.
Smart Driver, which is advertised as an optional service, had users who were unaware they were signed up for it, according to the Times.
GM said it is working on “enhanced privacy controls” aimed at greater transparency but did not disclose further details on how those controls will operate.
Key Background
The Smart Driver program was advertised as a means of helping drivers reduce wear and tear on their vehicles and encouraging them to drive safer. The program would report data and monthly reports related to total miles driven for trips, hard braking incidents, late night drives and more. Prior to GM’s discontinuation of the program, vehicle owners wary of the program began informing each other on multiple online forums to make sure they disabled Smart Driver, citing concerns about their insurance rates increasing as a result of the data it captured.
Further Reading
Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies (The New York Times)
