GM OnStar Driving Data Privacy Lawsuit 2026: Did Your Car Raise Your Insurance Rate?

Did GM’s driving data really raise insurance rates, and what can drivers do?

The allegation is simple and, if proven, ugly. General Motors, through OnStar and its Smart Driver feature, recorded how people drove, then sold or shared that trip data with LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk. Those firms packaged it into driving profiles that insurers could pull when pricing a policy. Drivers say they never understood they were enrolling in anything that would reach an underwriter, and some found out only when a renewal came in higher than their record justified.

What you can do now is narrower than the headlines suggest, but it is concrete. Request your own files from both data brokers, pull your insurance paperwork, line up the dates, and keep everything. Lawsuits in this area are decided on documents. The driver who can show an enrollment date, a premium jump and a named data source is in a very different position from one who only has a suspicion.

This guide covers how the data flow worked, who may be affected, how to pull your disclosure file, the legal claims, the court process, and how to pick a lawyer without getting taken advantage of.

---

What is the In re Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Litigation?

Beginning in 2024, after investigative reporting described the practice, individual drivers across the country filed suits against GM, OnStar, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk. Because the cases shared the same facts and defendants, they were consolidated in 2025 as a multidistrict litigation before a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia, under the name In re Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Litigation.

An MDL is a pretrial procedure. It does not merge your case into someone else’s permanently. One judge handles discovery, motions to dismiss and class certification for everyone, which saves duplicated effort. If cases are not settled or resolved, they can be sent back to the courts where they began.

Regulators moved in parallel. The Federal Trade Commission announced an action against GM and OnStar in early 2025 over the collection and sale of geolocation and driving behavior data, with a proposed order that would bar sharing this kind of data with consumer reporting agencies for a period of years. State attorneys general have also taken an interest. Regulatory action is not the same as a payout for you, but it often shapes what the private plaintiffs can prove.

---

How did driving data travel from the car to your insurance premium?

The mechanics matter because each hand-off is a potential legal violation.

Step	What happened	Why it matters legally
1. Enrollment	Driver activated OnStar or Smart Driver, often at the dealership or in an app	Was consent clear, or buried in terms and a prompt?
2. Collection	Vehicle logged trips, hard braking, hard acceleration, speeding, late-night driving, mileage	Granular behavior data is sensitive and easy to misread
3. Transfer	Data went from GM to LexisNexis and Verisk	FCRA treats data furnished for insurance purposes carefully
4. Scoring	Brokers built driving profiles or risk scores	Accuracy and the right to dispute are core FCRA protections
5. Insurer use	Insurers could retrieve the data when quoting or renewing	Adverse action rules require notice when it hurts you
6. Outcome	Higher premium, surcharge, or non-renewal	This is where your damages, if any, show up

One point catches people off guard. A telematics score is not the same as an accident record. Hard braking can mean you avoided a collision. A late-night trip might be a shift worker’s commute. Algorithms that treat these as risk signals can penalize safe driving habits, and drivers have no easy way to explain context to a model.

---

Who is most likely to be affected?

You may have a claim worth investigating if several of these apply.

• You owned or leased a GM vehicle (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick or Cadillac) with OnStar connectivity, especially in recent model years.
• You were enrolled in Smart Driver or a similar feature, possibly at purchase, and cannot recall giving a clear yes.
• Your auto insurance rate rose or you were non-renewed without a crash, ticket or claim that explained it.
• An insurer sent an adverse action notice naming LexisNexis, Verisk or a consumer report.
• You switched carriers and got a quote that seemed oddly high for your record.

Even if none of those fit exactly, your file may still hold data. People who bought used GM cars sometimes inherited active connectivity and never knew. A driver who never touched the Smart Driver toggle is not necessarily outside the dispute.

---

How do you request your LexisNexis and Verisk disclosure file?

This is the step I would do before talking to any lawyer, because it turns suspicion into evidence. Under the FCRA, a consumer reporting agency must disclose the contents of your file on request.

Item to request	Where it comes from	Tip
LexisNexis consumer disclosure	LexisNexis Risk Solutions consumer portal or mail request	Ask for telematics, driving behavior and insurance C.L.U.E. data separately
Verisk consumer disclosure	Verisk’s consumer data request channel	Request any driving behavior or trip data held on you
Insurer adverse action notice	Your auto insurer	Ask in writing which reports were used and the reason for the rate change
OnStar and Smart Driver records	GM or OnStar account and privacy request	Ask for enrollment dates and any data sharing history
Your own premium history	Renewal letters, billing statements	Build a month-by-month timeline

Practical steps:

1. Use the official consumer request pages, which you can find by searching for each company’s name plus “consumer disclosure”. Avoid third-party sites that charge a fee.
2. Prepare proof of identity and address. Expect to send a photo ID, and sometimes a recent bill.
3. Be specific in your wording. Write “all information relating to driving behavior, trip data, telematics or vehicle data”.
4. Keep a log of when you asked, how, and what you received.
5. If something is wrong, dispute it in writing with the agency. That creates a record and triggers a duty to investigate.

A free copy is available after an adverse action based on a report, and otherwise at least once a year. Do not pay for a file you are entitled to get free.

---

What claims can drivers actually bring?

Plaintiffs’ complaints bundle several theories, and courts treat them differently.

FCRA. The strongest federal hook. The law restricts when a consumer report may be furnished, requires reasonable procedures for accuracy, and requires notice when information leads to an adverse decision. Willful violations can bring statutory damages in a range set by the statute, plus possible punitive damages and attorney fees. Negligent violations require proof of actual harm.

State privacy and consumer protection laws. Several states have broader rules on sensitive data, unfair practices or consent. Some allow individual suits, others only attorney general enforcement.

Common-law claims. Unjust enrichment, intrusion upon seclusion and breach of implied promises appear in many complaints. These are harder to win but can survive in states with weak statutory remedies.

Deceptive disclosure claims. If enrollment was framed as safety or a perk while the real use was resale of data, that framing itself is part of the claim.

Defendants argue that drivers consented, that they were not “consumer reporting agencies” in the way the statute requires, and that individualized harm defeats a class. Those arguments are why I tell readers not to bank on a payout. Class certification is where cases like this are often won or lost, and a ruling against certification leaves people to pursue claims individually.

---

What happens next in the case, and how long will it take?

A federal MDL moves in stages, and each one takes months.

Stage	What happens	Realistic timing
Consolidation and organization	Judge appoints lead counsel, sets schedule	Done early in the case
Motions to dismiss	Court decides which claims proceed	Many months
Discovery	Documents, data flows, contracts, depositions	Often a year or more
Class certification	Judge decides if a nationwide or state class can proceed	Pivotal moment
Settlement or trial	Resolution, or trials in selected cases	Years from filing in many MDLs
Notice and claims	If settled, notice goes to class members	Usually weeks to months

Check the public docket for the Northern District of Georgia, or the court’s MDL page, rather than relying on social posts. Settlement websites with “check your eligibility” forms exist for many consumer cases. Only trust a site that links to the court and names an official settlement administrator. A page that asks for a Social Security number or bank login before any settlement exists is a scam.

If you are comparing how large consumer cases unfold, our look at the AT&T data breach class action shows the same notice-and-claim pattern, and the same fake-site risk.

---

How would payouts work if there is a settlement?

I will not guess at amounts, because none have been announced and no one outside the negotiating room knows. What can be said is how these funds usually work.

A settlement creates a fund. From it come court-approved attorney fees, administration costs and any service awards for named plaintiffs. The rest is distributed to class members. Distribution can be a flat amount, a tiered amount, or a claims-based formula that favors people who can document harm, such as a verified premium increase.

That is why documentation matters even in a class case. Drivers with a paper trail of a surcharge often qualify for a higher tier than those who only show they were enrolled. Keep renewal notices, declarations pages, and any email from your insurer explaining a change.

Payments are generally issued by check or electronic transfer after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved. That adds months.

---

Should you hire a lawyer, and how do you choose one?

For most people, the first move is self-help: request the files and build the timeline. A lawyer is worth contacting if the file shows trip-level data, or if you have a documented premium increase or denial. Consumer cases follow the same logic. In our guide to lemon law buyback lawyers, the early filter is whether the lawyer works on contingency and handles consumer statutory cases regularly.

Questions worth asking:

• Have you handled FCRA or privacy cases, and are you involved in this MDL or only advertising for it?
• Is the fee contingent, and what percentage applies to a class recovery versus an individual one?
• Who pays costs if we lose?
• Would joining the class or filing alone better fit my facts?
• How will you communicate, and who will actually work my file?

Be wary of any firm that promises a payout, requests a retainer up front for a privacy claim, or pushes you to sign within hours. FCRA has fee-shifting provisions, so many credible lawyers take these on contingency or ask for little up front.

---

What mistakes should drivers avoid?

• Disabling the service and deleting evidence. Turning off OnStar may protect future privacy, but save the account screens, emails and enrollment confirmations first.
• Waiting for a settlement notice. The FCRA clock runs from discovery. Start documenting now.
• Paying for your own file. You are entitled to it free in common situations.
• Assuming a premium hike was caused by this. Rates rise for many reasons: claims in your area, age, vehicle value and carrier repricing. Your records should tell you whether the data link is real.
• Ignoring arbitration language. OnStar terms may limit how you can sue. Read them, or have a lawyer do it.
• Trusting settlement look-alike sites. Verify against the court docket.

A good rule is to shop quotes from carriers that do not use connected-car data, and to ask directly whether they pull telematics from any outside source.

---

Your checklist before talking to anyone

• Write down your GM vehicle, model year, purchase or lease date and OnStar activation date
• Screenshot your OnStar and Smart Driver account settings
• Request your LexisNexis consumer disclosure and ask for driving data
• Request your Verisk consumer disclosure
• Ask your insurer for the reasons behind any rate increase, in writing
• Save every renewal notice, declarations page and adverse action letter
• Build a timeline of premiums against enrollment dates
• Read your OnStar terms for arbitration and class waiver language
• Note the two-year discovery and five-year outer deadlines on your calendar
• Compare quotes from at least two insurers that do not use connected-car data

Evidence preservation drives outcomes in every injury and consumer case, and the principle is the same here: documents win. Our construction site accident attorney guide and slip and fall claim guide show how that plays out in physical-injury claims. If your business runs a fleet of connected vehicles, also review cyber insurance coverage, since data-handling claims are an emerging gap.

---

This article is general information, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. The litigation described is ongoing, allegations are unproven, and facts, rulings and deadlines may change. Consult a licensed attorney in your state about your specific situation.