GM Sold 8 Million Drivers to Insurance Companies
March 2024. Kenn Dahl's car insurance jumps 21%. No accidents. No tickets. He calls around - every company wants to charge him more.
Finally, one agent tells him: "It's your driving score."
What driving score?
Turns out General Motors was secretly collecting his driving data through OnStar Smart Driver. Every trip. Every hard brake. Every rapid acceleration. Then selling it to LexisNexis, who sold it to insurance companies.
Kenn never signed up for Smart Driver. It was enabled by default.
He wasn't alone. GM sold data from 8 million drivers. Most had no idea.
Your Car Knows Everything
Modern cars have 100+ sensors and computers. They track:
Driving Behavior
- Speed at every moment
- Hard braking events (stopping too fast)
- Rapid acceleration (driving "aggressively")
- Sharp turns (cornering "unsafely")
- Time of day you drive (late night = risky)
- Total miles driven
- Seatbelt usage
Location Data
- GPS coordinates every few seconds
- Where you park (home, work, stores, hotels)
- Route patterns (do you speed on certain roads?)
- Frequency of visits (bar every Friday?)
Personal Behavior
- Phone calls through Bluetooth (who you call)
- Text messages displayed on screen
- Music preferences (what you listen to)
- Voice commands you speak
- Weight from seat sensors
Tesla employees shared videos from customer cars' cameras. Including "scenes of intimacy." Your car doesn't just track your driving. It surveils your life.
Meet the Middlemen Selling You Out
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
The biggest player. Has driving data on millions of Americans. Sells "Telematics OnDemand" reports to insurance companies. Your score affects your rates before you even apply.
One driver found 258 trips recorded in 6 months. Every single one scored. 130 "hard braking events." 47 "rapid accelerations." Each one a mark against him.
Verisk Analytics
Runs the "Data Exchange" where insurers share everything about you. Your claims, tickets, credit score - and now your driving behavior. 95% of auto insurers use it.
Your Manufacturer's Program
- GM: OnStar Smart Driver (discontinued after lawsuit)
- Ford: Lincoln Way app tracks everything
- Honda: Driver Feedback secretly shares data
- Hyundai: Bluelink sells to Verisk
- Tesla: "Safety Score" shared with insurers
- Subaru: Starlink records all driving events
They all claim it's "opt-in." But opt-in is often buried in 50 pages of terms when you buy the car. Or enabled when you use the app for remote start. Or turned on by the dealer "as a courtesy."
How This Destroys Your Insurance
Insurance companies love this data. They're not guessing if you're risky - they know.
Real examples from LexisNexis reports:
- "Subject exhibits late-night driving patterns" = Higher risk
- "Frequent hard-braking events detected" = Dangerous driver
- "High-speed driving on rural roads" = Rate increase
- "Multiple short trips under 1 mile" = Wasteful behavior
One couple's rate doubled after their car reported they drove to a mental health facility regularly. Insurance company figured: mental health issues = risky driver.
Another driver's rate spiked after visiting a cancer treatment center. The algorithm decided cancer patients are bad risks.
Your car doesn't just report how you drive. It reports where you go. And insurance companies judge you for it.
They're Not Even Hiding It
At the 2024 Auto Insurance Report conference, LexisNexis bragged:
"We can identify risky drivers in seconds using connected car data. No hardware installation needed. The car does it all."
Verisk's pitch to insurers:
"Real-time driving data eliminates information asymmetry. You know everything the driver does."
They're selling your privacy as a product feature.
Your Car App Is the Trojan Horse
Downloaded your car's app to remote start on cold mornings? Congratulations, you probably agreed to data sharing.
Real terms from actual car apps:
Toyota app: "We may share your information with data resellers, analytics companies, and insurance partners."
Mercedes me: "Driving characteristics may be used for usage-based insurance products."
FordPass: "We collect and share driving data to improve products and services" (services = selling to brokers).
These aren't buried in page 47 of the terms. Oh wait, they are.
It's Not Just Insurance
Your driving data also goes to:
Law Enforcement
Cops subpoena car data in investigations. No warrant needed for third-party business records. GM gave data to police 1,000+ times in 2023 alone.
Divorce Lawyers
Spouse's attorney subpoenas your car data. Proves you weren't "working late." Those trips to that apartment complex? Logged.
Employers
Company cars track everything. But personal cars do too if you ever connected to company WiFi or Bluetooth. That "sick day" when your car drove to the beach? HR knows.
Marketers
Visit a competitor's dealership? Expect targeted ads. Stop at a bar frequently? Alcohol ads incoming. Your driving patterns reveal your life patterns.
Repo Companies
Miss a payment? Your car tells them exactly where you are. Some can remotely disable the engine. You're driving a self-snitching repo target.
Electric Cars Are Worse
EVs need internet for updates, charging station maps, and battery management. Always connected = always watched.
Tesla is the worst offender:
- 9 cameras recording constantly
- Cabin camera watches the driver
- Sentry Mode records anyone near the car
- All footage uploaded to Tesla servers
- Employees caught sharing customer videos in internal chats
Elon Musk has location data for every Tesla owner. Every trip. Every destination. The world's richest man knows where you go.
How to Stop the Spying
Nuclear Option: Drive Old Cars
Pre-2015 vehicles have minimal connectivity. No cellular modem = no remote spying. But you lose modern safety features.
Disable Connectivity (If Possible)
- Pull the OnStar/cellular fuse (check forums for your model)
- Disconnect the telematics control unit (TCU)
- Remove antennas (GPS and cellular)
- Warning: May void warranty, disable features
Opt Out Everywhere
- Call manufacturer to opt out of data sharing
- Delete the car's mobile app
- Never use in-car WiFi
- Don't sync your phone
- Pay cash for parking/tolls when possible
Legal Demands
- Request your data from manufacturers (they must provide it)
- Demand deletion under state privacy laws
- File complaints with state attorneys general
- Join class action lawsuits (several pending against GM)
Privacy-Friendly Alternatives
- Use rental cars for sensitive trips
- Take public transit when possible
- Use ride-sharing with cash cards
- Bike for local trips
Coming Soon to Your Dashboard
Ford's 2025 patent: Camera watches driver's eyes. Serves ads when you look at billboards. "You looked at McDonald's, here's a coupon!"
GM's patent: Detect when you're stressed. Suggest nearest bar or therapist. Sell that info to health insurance.
Tesla's plan: Full self-driving means they control where your car can go. Geofencing for "safety." Digital checkpoints everywhere.
EU mandating speed limiters that can't be permanently disabled. The car will physically prevent you from speeding. But it needs GPS to know speed limits. GPS means tracking.
Infrastructure bill requires all new cars have "impairment detection" by 2026. Cameras watching if you're drunk. Or tired. Or distracted. Or "impaired" by their definition.
Your Car Is a Narc
That new car smell? It's the stench of surveillance.
Every modern car is a tracking device you pay $40,000 to install in your life. It watches where you go, how you drive, who you call, what you weigh. Then it sells that data to anyone willing to pay.
Insurance companies use it to jack up your rates. Police use it to track you. Marketers use it to manipulate you. Your spouse's lawyer uses it against you.
The car used to represent freedom. Open road. Going anywhere. Now it's a mobile surveillance platform that reports your every move to corporate databases.
You're not driving anymore. You're being driven. Straight into a surveillance state that tracks every mile.
And you're paying for the gas.