Data collected by cars and sold to third parties
- ID
- 24094
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 13 Sep 2026, 9:45 PM
- Fetched
- 15 Sep 2026, 7:20 PM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://www.theverge.com/column/994172/your-car-is-selling-your-data
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 4.0
- Created
- 15 Sep 2026, 7:23 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_founders
What happened
The FTC issued a five-year ban on GM selling customer data to data brokers after GM collected driving behavior data (speeding, night driving) through its OnStar Smart Driver feature and sold it to LexisNexis and Verisk, who used it to generate insurance risk profiles. Many drivers were unaware they had consented, and some saw insurance rates rise as a result. A 2023 Mozilla Foundation study found every major car company had 'horrible privacy and security,' with customers forced to accept overlapping policies across car, connected services, app, and financial services.
Why it matters
For builders working on connected-device or IoT products, this is a concrete cautionary tale about consent UX design and data brokerage partnerships: GM's confusing enrollment flow led to regulatory action. If you're shipping products that collect behavioral data and share it with third parties, expect scrutiny on whether consent is genuinely informed, especially as regulators like the FTC act on opaque data-sharing arrangements.
Discussion angle
How consent UX in connected products can cross from 'dark pattern' into regulatory liability, and what that means for Malaysian builders handling user behavioral data under PDPA.