Penalty Amount
$12,750,000
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with multiple district attorneys and the California Privacy Protection Agency, announced a $12.75 million settlement with General Motors for illegally selling hundreds of thousands of Californians' location and driving data to data brokers Verisk and LexisNexis without notice or consent. The settlement includes the largest CCPA penalty to date, a five-year ban on selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies, and requirements to delete retained data and implement a robust privacy program.
GM must pay $12.75 million in civil penalties, stop selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies for five years, delete driving data within 180 days absent express consent, request data brokers delete the data, develop a robust privacy program, and report privacy assessments to DOJ, district attorneys, and CalPrivacy.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with data brokers and analytics providers to ensure explicit consent and notice requirements are met before sharing consumer data. Key clauses to examine include data processing agreements, data sharing provisions, opt-out mechanisms, and data retention policies. Additionally, customer-facing privacy policies and terms of service should be audited to ensure they accurately describe data collection, use, and sharing practices, particularly for connected vehicle services like OnStar. Employee and customer contracts should include clear consent language for any secondary use of data beyond the original service purpose.
Entity
General Motors
Industry
Automotive"General Motors"
"$12.75 million"
"California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)"
"California’s Unfair Competition Law"
"sold the names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians to two data brokers"
"GM failed to give consumers any notice of the sales"
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against General Motors for unlawfully collecting private driving data from over 1.5 million Texas drivers without consent and selling the data to third parties including insurance companies. GM allegedly deceived customers into enrolling in products like OnStar Smart Driver by falsely claiming enrollment was required to retain vehicle safety features, while concealing that enrollment authorized systematic collection and sale of detailed driving data. The action follows an investigation launched in June 2024 as part of the Texas AG’s data privacy initiative, and seeks to hold GM accountable for violating state privacy laws.
A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by Colorado AG Phil Weiser, obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal court in California to halt the proposed $110 billion merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Paramount Skydance Corporation. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by substantially lessening competition in film distribution, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and licensing cable TV channels.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) joined a coalition of 18 Attorneys General and state agencies in opposing the proposed SECURE Data Act, a federal privacy bill that would preempt stronger state privacy laws like the CCPA. The coalition argues the bill would weaken consumer privacy protections, limit enforcement remedies, and undermine California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP).
The California Privacy Protection Agency Board voted to support two bills (AB 1542 and SB 1106) and took a 'support if amended' position on a third bill (AB 883). These bills aim to strengthen privacy protections by expanding sensitive data protections, improving deletion rights under the Delete Act, and providing expedited deletion for elected officials and judges.
The California Privacy Protection Agency sent a letter to Congress opposing the SECURE Data Act, a federal bill that would preempt state privacy laws like the CCPA and Delete Act. The letter argues the bill would eliminate rights for 40 million Californians, including the DROP platform and opt-out preference signal requirements, and urges Congress to set a floor rather than a ceiling on privacy protections.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by attorneys general from seven other states, filed a lawsuit to block the $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by reducing competition in local TV markets, leading to higher prices, less local news, and job losses.