General Motors LLC and its own subsidiary, OnStar LLC, engaged in widespread deceptive practices by secretly collecting and selling Indiana drivers’ personal data to third parties, including insurance companies, without their knowledge or consent, Attorney General Todd Rokita has alleged in a lawsuit filed by his office this week.
Marketing their OnStar “Smart Driver” system as a way to “maximize vehicle performance, while reducing the rate of wear and tear,” General Motors instead turned around and sold customers’ driving data in order to raise insurance rates and collect their share of the deceptive dollars.
The lawsuit, filed in Marion Superior Court, claims that General Motors and OnStar misrepresented their telematics system as a safety and convenience feature for consumers while using it to harvest detailed driving behavior and location data—such as speed, hard braking, and late-night driving habits—and selling it to data brokers for profit. These brokers then created risk profiles and driving scores, which were sold to insurers, resulting in higher premiums or canceled policies for unsuspecting Hoosiers.
“Everyone deserves transparency and honesty from the companies they do business with, especially when it comes to having their data protected,” Attorney General Rokita said. “General Motors and OnStar turned a supposed safety feature into a way to make money, profiting off Indiana drivers without their knowledge. We’re taking action to hold them accountable and protect our consumers from these deceptive practices.”
The complaint alleges that for years, General Motors has used unfair, abusive, deceptive acts, and omissions to hide its data sharing practices from consumers. It asserts that General Motors coerced them into activating OnStar in their vehicles and enrolling in services as part of an “onboarding” process. General Motors then treated consumers’ enrollment as consent to collect and sell their driving data, without ever explicitly informing them of these practices.
Attorney General Rokita said these practices violate the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and is seeking a permanent injunction to stop them and is also looking for civil penalties against the companies as well as consumer restitution and other relief.
“Hoosiers were secretly misled and used,” Rokita added. “Their actions are unacceptable and we’re fighting back to ensure this type of behavior never happens again.”
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Todd Rokita aims to protect Hoosiers against unfair business practices that mislead consumers into relinquishing their privacy rights.
Hoosiers are encouraged to contact the Office of the Indiana Attorney General if they believe they have been impacted by these allegations. Consumers can file a complaint by visiting indianaconsumer.com or calling 1-800-382-5516.
The lawsuit is attached here.