Montana sues General Motors over collection and sale of driver data
Key Facts
Montana’s Department of Justice said on October 16, 2026, that the state had sued General Motors and its OnStar subsidiary, accusing them of enrolling customers, collecting their driving data and selling it without their consent. The department said the lawsuit was filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court. The state is seeking a permanent injunction barring the alleged practices from continuing, along with civil penalties. It also asked the court to require the companies to delete and destroy driving data, including copies held by third parties. The case centers on how connected-vehicle data is collected, used and shared, an issue addressed earlier in a separate federal order involving General Motors and OnStar.
The lawsuit follows a federal proceeding that resulted in a final consent order on January 14, 2026, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s records. Montana’s Department of Justice said the agreement bars General Motors, for 5 years, from sharing geolocation and driving behavior data with consumer reporting agencies. The FTC said the order requires consumers’ express prior consent before connected-vehicle data is collected, used or shared throughout the order’s 20-year term. It also allows consumers to request a copy of their data and have it deleted, or to disable location data collection where the technology allows. That places the state lawsuit within a broader legal response to data practices, while Montana’s claims before its court remain separate from the federal order’s terms.
On October 29, 2026, New York’s attorney general announced that the state had joined a coalition of 35 other attorneys general to secure a $220 million settlement with General Motors over the sale of drivers’ driving and location data to data brokers. The attorney general’s office said the company will pay the states the total amount, including $12,054,341 to New York. The settlement also requires the company to limit the driving data it collects from consumers. The state said the company enrolled millions of drivers in its Smart Driver program between 2016 and 2024, including more than 700,000 New York drivers. This settlement is separate from the lawsuit Montana announced on October 16 and does not itself constitute a ruling on Montana’s claims.
According to the investigation outlined by the New York attorney general’s office, General Motors sold driving information to data brokers under contracts specifying its use in insurance products. The brokers then sold the data to insurers, which could adjust premiums based on driving habits. The attorney general said the OnStar app wrongly told more than 370,000 drivers that they were not enrolled in the Smart Driver program, even though the company was collecting and selling their data. These facts trace the data from program enrollment to its use in the insurance sector, while Montana’s claims describe the scope of the relief the state is seeking in its lawsuit. Based on the facts available here, Montana’s statement did not include details of the company’s response or the date of a future court hearing.
General Motors disclosed in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it faces pending class actions over OnStar Smart Driver data, executive actions brought by states, and investigations by other attorneys general. The company said it had recorded $0.5 billion as of September 30, 2026, in connection with these investigations and lawsuits. The disclosure provides financial context for the privacy and consumer protection cases facing the company, without specifying the amount allocated to each case. The settlement New York announced in October and the lawsuit Montana announced should also not be confused with the final federal order issued in January. Montana’s requests, including a ban, penalties and data deletion, remain before the court the state said it had approached.