A recent alarming revelation involves General Motors (GM) selling off your sensitive geolocation and driving behavior data. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused GM and its affiliate Onstar of collecting and vending such data from a multitude of vehicles without sufficient consumer acknowledgement and approval.
The FTC has hence proposed an order banning the automaker from this practice for a five-year span, translating to a significant setback for GM. The proposition was made following a probe into the enrollment method employed by GM to encourage consumers to opt for Onstar, which reportedly misled numerous customers.
Chair of the FTC, Lina M. Khan, asserted that GM meticulously monitored and sold driving and location data, in some instances as frequently as every three seconds. This adds to GM’s list of complications, following their recent discontinuation of the autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise.
The FTC’s proposal follows an exposé by The New York Times revealing GM’s collection and sale of customer driving data to insurers and data brokers. Consequently, drivers were burdened with inexplicably heightened insurance premium rates. The ill-use of this data, however, extends beyond higher insurance costs and threatens to violate personal privacy.
If passed, the FTC’s proposed ban will require GM to explicit consent from customers for data collection and afford them the controls to access and erase their data. The proposal is currently subject to a 30-day public comment round before any conclusive ruling is enforced.
Original source: Read the full article on TechCrunch
