General Motors made headlines on Wednesday when the company announced the discontinuation of its OnStar Smart Driver program, a service that provided users with data about their driving habits. The decision comes after complaints from users about privacy violations and concerns regarding how their personal information was shared with data analytics companies LexisNexis and Verisk.
According to a statement from GM, Smart Driver users will be unenrolled from the program and the software will be removed from all GM vehicles. The New York Times reported that LexisNexis and Verisk had been sharing personal data with insurance companies as part of the program, with some GM vehicle owners unaware that they had consented to the program or that their insurance rates had increased as a result.
The information collected by Smart Driver included details about drivers’ habits and activity such as rapid accelerations and hard braking. This data was used to create risk scores for insurance companies to use in offering more personalized coverage. Many users of the program were unaware that they had been signed up for it, highlighting concerns about transparency and consent.
GM stated that it is working on implementing enhanced privacy controls aimed at providing greater transparency, but did not provide further details on how these controls will operate. The Smart Driver program was initially marketed as an optional service to help drivers reduce wear and tear on their vehicles and promote safer driving practices. However, some vehicle owners expressed concerns about their insurance rates increasing due to the data collected by the program.
Prior to the discontinuation of the Smart Driver program, vehicle owners had begun warning each other on online forums about the potential impact on insurance rates and advised disabling the service. The decision to end the program reflects a growing awareness of privacy issues related to data collection and sharing in the automotive industry. While GM’s move to address these concerns is a step in the right direction, it also raises questions about the broader implications of technology-driven services in the future.
