The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against General Motors claiming that the car giant tricked customers into sharing and providing their personal data which was later used by insurance companies and other entities without their knowledge.
A pattern of mistrust
According to the state of Texas, new vehicle owners were presented with what the state calls “a confusing and highly misleading process” that was promoted as a way to increase their safety but in reality it “was no more than a deceptively designed sales flow” that surrendered their data for GM to sell. The suit alleges that at no point was selling driving data ever even suggested as a possibility putting GM in violation of the state’s consumer protection laws.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a jury trial and at least $10,000 per offense (every GM car sold in the state since 2015) and a hefty add-on of $250,000 in cases where the victim was over 65.
Lawsuit latest in recent wave of broader data-related issues
Texas’s action against General Motors is the latest in a recent string of data-related incidents that have resonated through the auto industry. The protection of consumer data has rapidly become a hot-button issue as more subscription services and new avenues of data collection have entered many new automobiles. The security of this data is a growing concern and many customers are hesitant about giving their data when they are not sure about where it will end up.
The U.S. government is also taking notice with Senators Ron Wyden and Edward J Markey calling for an investigation into how automakers sell data to third-party data brokers and how many automakers pass that information along to these firms for small sums of money. These calls for the FTC to be involved comes after GM, Honda, and Hyundai were also listed in a New York Times report back in March that criticized how the trio sold consumer data to the firm Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions under the auspices of lowering insurance rates which ultimately wasn’t as airtight of a reason as initially advertised.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.