Is Your Car Reporting How You Drive?

A modern car is a computer with a cellular connection. Crash notification, remote unlock and app-based features all depend on it, and some services also record how and where the car is driven. Whether that data ever reaches an insurer depends on the manufacturer, the services you signed up for, and what you consented to.

What the FTC case was about

In January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced a complaint against General Motors and OnStar. It said GM used a misleading enrollment process for its connected services and a driving-behavior feature, collected data such as every instance of hard braking, late-night driving and speeding, and sold it to consumer reporting agencies. Those agencies used it in reports that, according to the FTC, insurance companies used to deny coverage and set rates.

On January 14, 2026, the FTC finalized its order. For five years GM is banned from disclosing consumers' geolocation and driver-behavior data to consumer reporting agencies. Over the order's 20-year term, GM must get affirmative express consent before collecting, using or sharing connected-vehicle data, let consumers request a copy and seek deletion, and give them ways to disable precise location collection and opt out of location and driver-behavior collection.

What California law already requires

Vehicle Code 9951 deals with recording devices the manufacturer installs. If a connected subscription service can record where the car travels or transmit crash information, that capability must be disclosed in the subscription agreement. It's one more reason to read the agreement rather than click through it.

How this differs from an insurer's telematics program

A usage-based or telematics program is something you join with your insurer, usually through an app or plug-in device, knowing your driving will be scored. The FTC's concern was different: data collected through the car, by its manufacturer, and passed along without drivers understanding it. Joining a telematics program is a choice you can weigh on its merits, with the scoring rules in front of you.

What you can check on your own car

1. Open the manufacturer's app or the car's settings and look for connected services, driving-behavior features and data-sharing options.
2. Read the privacy notice and the subscription agreement for what is collected and who receives it.
3. Turn off features you didn't knowingly choose, and keep crash notification if you value it.
4. When buying a used car, ask the seller to remove their account, and set up or decline your own.
5. If you think data about you was shared, contact the consumer reporting agencies and ask what they hold on you.

Selling or buying a connected car

Before you sell, remove the car from your manufacturer account and app, cancel the connected subscription, and reset the infotainment system to clear saved addresses, phone pairings and garage codes. Otherwise the app may still show the car's location or unlock it for you after it belongs to someone else. When you buy, ask the seller to do the same in front of you, then decide which services you actually want.

What varies by insurance company

Which outside data sources an insurer uses, whether it offers a telematics program, and how such a program can affect your price all vary. California rating has to rest on the factors the law and regulation allow, led by your driving safety record, annual mileage and years of driving experience.

If you'd rather be quoted on your record and your real mileage, start here and ask us how each company treats telematics.