Your New GMC Truck Might Be Sharing Location Knowledge With Knowledge Brokers

“The FTC ought to maintain accountable the automakers, which shared their clients’ information with information brokers with out acquiring knowledgeable consent, in addition to the info brokers, which resold information that had not been obtained in a lawful method,” Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Ed Markey wrote of their letter to the FTC.

Common Motors, Honda, and Hyundai every shared drivers’ “acceleration and braking information” with brokers, and Common Motors “disclosed buyer location information” to a minimum of two corporations, the senators wrote. They accused the businesses of not looking for buyer consent for information sharing or utilizing murky strategies to get drivers to choose in, like implying that the info would “solely decrease insurance coverage payments” when it may increase charges as effectively, the senators wrote.

In a 2021 name with Wyden’s workplace, GM officers stated it had been sharing “bulk, de-identified location information from GM vehicles to an unnamed industrial associate, which GM officers wouldn’t determine.”

“Throughout that oversight name, GM confirmed it didn’t search knowledgeable consent from customers for sharing this information. Firm officers advised Senator Wyden’s employees that the one method customers may choose out of the info sharing was by disabling the automotive’s web connection totally,” the letter to the FTC states.

The FTC focused information brokers earlier this 12 months for gathering location information from customers by way of apps on their telephones and promoting it with out consent.

GM and Honda officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

A spokesperson for Hyundai advised Enterprise Insider that the senators’ letter to the FTC “mischaracterizes Hyundai’s information insurance policies and the safeguards it carried out to make sure buyer consent for sharing driving conduct data with insurers.”