[VIDEO] Check Your MyChevrolet App to Opt Out of GM Sharing Your Driving Habits with Insurance Companies

By
Keith Cornett
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12
7922

[VIDEO] Check Your MyChevrolet App to Opt Out of GM Sharing Your Driving Habits with Insurance Companies


There was a pretty big brouhaha that broke out last week following a New York Times article about GM’s OnStar being used to track the driving habits of owners, and many may have not realized that their cars were spying on them. We already knew about the black boxes in modern day cars that police may look at to determine how fast you were going prior to an accident, and we figured GM uses the data to determine whether or not to decline warranty service calls. What we didn’t think is how GM would sell-out their customers for additional revenue.

It turns out that GM was sharing driver data with insurance companies and making millions off the data of its customers. This program is called “Smart Driver” which fortunately requires consent from its customers before the data is shared with data brokers and insurance companies.

The NY Times article shared the story of a Chevrolet Bolt owner whose insurance coverage went up dramatically, as did quotes from other companies. Learning that there was a LexisNexis data report on him, he requested a copy and was shocked to find it was 258 pages that covered his daily driving over the previous six months. The underlying data from the report was provided to LexisNexis by General Motors. LexisNexis then used the data to create a risk-score and provided that data to insurers who used it as a factor in their determining their insurance coverage. Eight other insurance companies also requested that data on the Bolt owner, who claimed “It felt like betrayal. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.”

The Times article also says an employee familiar with GM’s Smart Driver program says that the annual revenue collected by the company for the data is in the “low millions of dollars”.

However, this Chevy Bolt owner wasn’t the only one surprised to have GM giving up their driving habits. Many customers may not have realized that they were enrolled in the Smart Driver program because of the legal consent requests doesn’t explicitly say that GM would be providing your driving data to third parties. But that clause is in the OnStar Privacy Statement under the “How We May Share Your Information” in the “Third Pardy Business Relationships” clause where states:

We may also share data with third parties for marketing activities (with necessary consents) or where you have elected to receive a service from them and/or authorized them to request data from GM (for example, financial organizations who offer financing for the purchase or lease of GM vehicles or usage based insurance providers).

The OnStar Smart Driver program requires a 2015 or newer GM Vehicle and an OnStar Safety and Security Plan, which means that C7 Corvettes (2015-2019) (excluding 2014 Stingrays) and all C8 Corvettes could be spying on you and reporting how often you brake hard, accelerate fast and drive faster than 80 mph. Starting in 2022, Chevrolet made the $300 OnStar subscription mandatory on all new Corvettes, so it’s possible that you are enrolled without your knowledge.

[VIDEO] Check Your MyChevrolet App to Opt Out of GM Sharing Your Driving Habits with Insurance Companies

To make sure you are opted out of the program, pull up your MyChevrolet App and make sure you are not enrolled in the OnStar Smart Driver program. The graphic above was posted to Facebook on the C8 Corvette Owners group, and it shows the steps you need to take on the app to no longer consent to the program.

Our friend Mike from the Brink of Speed YouTube Channel is not happy with this program at all, and he makes some very great points about how you spend thousands and thousands of dollars buying a new GM vehicle, and this is how they repay us for being a valued customer.


Source:
NY Times via CorvetteForum.com

Related:
[STOLEN] OnStar Leads Police to a C8 Corvette Stolen from a Charlotte Valet Service
Chevrolet Adds Mandatory $300 OnStar Subscription to the Price of the 2023 Corvette
Onstar Proactive Alerts Will Warn You If Something is Wrong With Your 2016 Corvette

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12 COMMENTS

  3. Just looked at my Chevrolet app on my iPhone and did find that this was on. The data that it showed was interesting, but what the hell I didn’t buy a Z06 to go 55mph and I didn’t get carbon ceramic brakes to gently slow the car down. And I certainly did not get the flat plane 670HP LT6 to go from 0-60 in 10 seconds. What were they thinking. I turned it off.

  4. the Corvette Museum insurance is pretty costly. I did check it out and for my 2023 Corvette, it was $1,590.00 /year compared to Grundy for $920.00 /year for the exact same coverage. I mean the exact same coverage, with one exception, Grundy did not have an annual mileage limit whereas the Corvette Museum did have a declared mileage limit. Also, both policies had stated the amount of the vehicle’s worth. I saved 33% of my insurance policy premium by going with Grundy. The Corvette Museum policy is very costly.

  5. I echo Richard McK. NCM insurance on my 2024 C8 was higher than Hagerty and had a lot of use restrictions.

    A friend encouraged me to shop Grundy too, but the Hagerty rate was good enough. My other friend checked out Grundy and said that they had a lot of restrictions too. We get a lot of nice weather in Florida year ’round and I don’t want to get ping’d if I happen to stop at CVS on my way to a Cars and Coffee and something happens in a parking lot (and it did once when I was using my Grand National – Hagerty paid, no problem). Hagerty has a slogan: “Cars are meant to be driven”.

  6. You can turn it off but the black box in your car still records driving. A law enforcement agency can sopena the data after an accident or other event. Also other three letters agencies spy on you using your phone or other smart devices. We truly live in a world of American Stasi.

  7. I have a 2020 C8 and noticed that “Smart Driver” about a week into using it and turned it off. I’ve since added a 2024 Silverado, now reading your article on selling our information. I checked my My Chevy App and both were turned on, the C8 must have been turned back on when I added the Silverado, Both Off now, see how long that last. That is just plain Wrong!!!

  8. I had On Star, which I did not like at all, on my C8. I had to call them twice to quit. The first time didn’t work because I don’t know why and the charge still cam through on my credit card. With my second call, they noted I had quit but for some reason it didn’t go through.

    Chevrolet and GM very much want their “connected car” idea to work even if that means taking advantage of customers.

  9. We have the same problem. Received the dossier and were shocked. Who analyses this data? A hard braking incident is a good thing when avoiding a deer or another vehicle that pulls out in front of you. And rapid acceleration is required when mergers hit your path when on the freeway. What can be done about these giants selling our stolen data? Should we be included in those profits? They will find a reason to turn on the Smart Driver because they can. Just because this data is available doesn’t mean they own it. I say it belongs to me, I bought a car and everything on it, and that includes spy capabilities, so it’s mine not GM’s. GM’s does not pay for repairs and maintenance on my car. They must be stopped.

  12. The very first modification to my 2/2016 Stingray, was pulling the On Star fuse.
    Now, I can call it “Off Star”.

    Yes, thanks Mr. Keith Cornett!

    Many thanks,
    Ray

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