Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against General Motors that alleges the company collected and sold drivers' data to insurance companies without their consent or knowledge.

The new lawsuit alleges that in car models from 2015 and above, General Motors implemented data-collecting technology to monitor and collect drivers' data, particularly any "bad" habits. The lawsuit alleges General Motors collected data on more than 1.8 million Texas drivers and that these "bad" habits were events such as braking too fast, steering sharply into corners, not using seatbelts, and driving at night. At the moment, it remains unclear if the data was used by the insurers to increase the premiums for Texans.
More specifically, the data collection method involved crunching the numbers down to what was referred to as "driver score," which was an aggregation of data from any time a driver used their vehicle. The attorney general's office claimed General Motors "deceived" its Texan customers by encouraging them to enroll in opt-in programs such as OnStar Smart Driver. The lawsuit alleges General Motors deceived its customers by failing to inform them enrolling in such programs mean they agree to the collection and sale of their data.
"Our investigation revealed that General Motors has engaged in egregious business practices that violated Texans' privacy and broke the law. We will hold them accountable," said Attorney General Paxton. "Companies are using invasive technology to violate the rights of our citizens in unthinkable ways. Millions of American drivers wanted to buy a car, not a comprehensive surveillance system that unlawfully records information about every drive they take and sells their data to any company willing to pay for it."