Two More Automakers Could Be Selling Your Personal Driver Data

Automakers are pushing connected car services not just in hopes of making your driving life easier. The data that your vehicle captures every moment is extremely valuable. Just like the information gathered by your phone, your computer, and that smart fridge mistake you made a few years back, there is a market for it, one that can be very lucrative and make your life a privacy nightmare.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said that his office has received reports that customer personal driving data is being collected and sold to third-party companies by Ford and Stellantis. He's launching an investigation under the state's Consumer Protection Act, which he says was intended to safeguard personal and financial information like this.

“It appears vehicle owners are unaware that their driving data is being collected and sold to third parties without their consent. If true, this deceitful practice raises serious consumer protection concerns and is also a violation of state law,” Knudsen said in a written statement. The AG's office said that it has received reports that the data is being sold to third parties like LexisNexis as well as insurance companies.

A new study from S&P Global reveals that most new car owners are still wary of paying for new connected services and software.

The two automakers will have until May 10 to respond. Knudsen didn't say what the next actions could be, but said that "my office is committed to ensuring companies are following Montana law."

Kristin Jones, Ford’s chief privacy officer, has spoken about data collection and selling before. In a post to Ford's media site last summer, Jones said, "we actually don’t sell connected vehicle data, period." She said that the company's data collection was "used primarily to ensure vehicle performance quality, offer products and services you request, and ensure safety."

GM was the first automaker caught selling data in late 2024. The Texas Attorney General filed a suit that led to a Federal Trade Commission investigation. GM got a five-year ban from selling data, which included location, driver behavior, and more. It will also have to be more transparent going forward and allow customers to delete data or stop it from being captured.

It's not clear why this didn't apply to other automakers, but with the announcement of this new investigation, it soon might. In 2024, senators Ron Wyden and Edward J. Markey wrote a letter to the FTC saying that Honda and Hyundai had also sold data to a company called Verisk, which sold it to insurance companies.

According to that letter, Honda was paid just $25,920 for four years of data, while Hyundai was paid $1 million for six years. Hyundai later called it a "mischaracterization" of how the data was used.