Justin Sullivan/Getty
- Senators called on the FTC to investigate some automakers for surreptitiously sharing drivers' data.
- Two senators named General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai in their letter to the FTC demanding action.
- They accused the companies of sharing driving and location data under the guise of lowering rates.
If you always feel like someone is watching you, it might be your swanky new GMC.
Legislators are demanding the Federal Trade Commission investigate automakers like General Motors, the maker of GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Buick — as well as Honda and Hyundai — for serriptitiously sharing drivers' data with data brokers. They called on the FTC to "hold the companies and their senior executives responsible" if they broke the law.
"The FTC should hold accountable the automakers, which shared their customers' data with data brokers without obtaining informed consent, as well as the data brokers, which resold data that had not been obtained in a lawful manner," Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Ed Markey wrote in their letter to the FTC.
General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai each shared drivers' "acceleration and braking data" with brokers, and General Motors "disclosed customer location data" to at least two companies, the senators wrote. They accused the companies of not seeking customer consent for data sharing or using murky techniques to get drivers to opt in, like implying that the data would "only lower insurance bills" when it could raise rates as well, the senators wrote.
In a 2021 call with Wyden's office, GM officials said it had been sharing "bulk, de-identified location data from GM cars to an unnamed commercial partner, which GM officials would not identify."
"During that oversight call, GM confirmed it did not seek informed consent from consumers for sharing this data. Company officials told Senator Wyden's staff that the only way consumers could opt out of the data sharing was by disabling the car's internet connection entirely," the letter to the FTC states.
A spokesperson for GM told Business Insider in a statement that it is a "common industry practice" to share de-identified data with some third parties for "enhancing city infrastructure and road safety." The spokesperson denied the accusation in the letter that GM used "manipulative design techniques" to enroll customers in features that used data sharing.
"Data was only shared with an insurer if a customer initiated a quote directly with their chosen carrier and provided a separate consent to that carrier," the spokesperson said, noting that the GM feature that shared data was discontinued entirely last month.
The FTC targeted data brokers earlier this year for collecting location data from consumers via apps on their phones and selling it without consent.
Honda officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Hyundai told Business Insider that the senators' letter to the FTC "mischaracterizes Hyundai's data policies and the safeguards it implemented to ensure customer consent for sharing driving behavior information with insurers."
Update July 27, 2024: This story has been updated to include a statement from a GM spokesperson.