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Yes—connected cars can collect and share far more than maintenance information. Depending on the vehicle and service, data may include precise location, driving behavior, cabin audio and video, biometrics, identity, contacts and financial details. The Federal Trade Commission’s 2026 order involving General Motors and OnStar, along with a Senate investigation into Hyundai and Honda, shows why lawmakers are seeking stronger federal oversight. Whether information affects an insurance price depends on how an automaker, data broker or insurer uses it; it is not an automatic result for every driver.
What information can a connected car collect?
Telematics systems combine vehicle sensors, a cellular connection, apps and cloud services. The FTC identifies biometric, telematic, geolocation, video and other personal information as possible categories. The Commerce Department has described an even broader set of data in connected-vehicle systems.
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| Data category | Examples | Why it is sensitive |
|---|---|---|
| Location and travel | Precise location, routes, traffic patterns and trip times | The FTC says location can reveal visits to medical facilities, places of worship or domestic-abuse shelters. |
| Driving behavior | Hard braking, acceleration, speeding, mileage and late-night driving | These events can be used to build a driver profile or supplied to an insurer or consumer-reporting entity. |
| Vehicle and cabin sensors | Audio and video inside or outside the vehicle, plus diagnostic and telematic signals | Recordings and sensor streams can expose passengers, surroundings and routines. |
| Personal identity | Driver identity, biometrics, home address and contact information | These details can connect a vehicle record to a named person or household. |
| Financial information | Payment or other financial details associated with services | Financial data raises fraud and profiling risks when combined with travel histories. |
Collection does not mean every model gathers every category. The precise scope depends on the vehicle, its connected services, the apps a driver authorizes and the company’s policies.
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It can. Driving events such as hard braking, rapid acceleration, speeding and late-night travel may be turned into a risk score and shared with data brokers or consumer-reporting entities. The FTC’s allegations against GM and OnStar, and a Senate investigation into Hyundai and Honda, connect these practices to insurers’ use of driving information when setting rates. Those findings do not establish that every insurer uses connected-car data or that a particular driver’s premium will rise.
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What the Senate found about Hyundai and Honda
Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey reported that automakers supplied driving data to Verisk, a company that provides information used by insurers:
| Automaker | Vehicles in reported sharing | Payment from Verisk | Reported amount per vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai | 1.7 million | $1,043,315.69 | 61 cents |
| Honda | 97,000 | $25,920 | 26 cents |
The senators said automakers used “dark patterns”—interface and enrollment choices designed to steer people into programs—before data was resold to insurers. They called the documented practices “likely just the tip of the iceberg.”
What the 2026 GM and OnStar FTC order requires
In 2026, the FTC finalized an order after alleging that GM and OnStar collected, used and sold precise geolocation and driving-behavior information from millions of vehicles without adequate notice or affirmative consent. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said GM monitored and sold precise location and driver-behavior information “sometimes as often as every three seconds.”
The order’s requirements have different durations:
- Five years: GM and OnStar are barred from sharing covered data with consumer-reporting agencies.
- Twenty years: GM must obtain affirmative express consent, subject to limited emergency exceptions; provide access and deletion mechanisms; offer a way to disable precise geolocation where technically possible; and provide opt-out controls.
The order applies to the companies and conduct covered by the settlement. It is not a universal privacy rule for every automaker.
Why consent notices have drawn criticism
A Government Accountability Office review published in 2017 examined 16 selected automakers. Thirteen offered connected vehicles, and all 13 reported collecting, using and sharing vehicle data with explicit consent. However, GAO found that none of the written notices was clearly written, and few offered a meaningful alternative short of abandoning all connected services.
That snapshot predates many current apps and subscription features, so it should not be treated as a measurement of every 2026 model. It does show the central problem: a nominal consent click may not explain which data is collected, who receives it, how long it is retained or whether a driver can keep basic connectivity while refusing secondary uses.
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No single federal agency has complete responsibility.
| Agency | Primary role | What that means for connected-car data |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Trade Commission (FTC) | Consumer-protection and privacy enforcement | Can challenge unlawful collection, use or disclosure of sensitive information and deceptive or inadequate consent practices. The FTC has also said companies do not have a free license to monetize data beyond purposes needed to provide a requested service. |
| National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) | Vehicle safety | Focuses mainly on crashes, defects and safety performance. GAO found its privacy role unclear and recommended clarification. |
| Department of Commerce | Technology supply-chain and national-security policy | Commerce materials analyze risks from foreign-controlled connected-vehicle technology and vulnerabilities, but the department is not the general consumer-privacy regulator for automakers. |
Other regulators and state laws may matter in particular cases, but the federal framework remains divided between privacy enforcement, vehicle safety and supply-chain security.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why connected cars are also a national-security issue
The Commerce Department has warned that connected vehicles rely on information and communications technology that can create cyber-enabled attack paths. A compromised system could expose U.S. persons’ location, traffic, audio, video, identity, financial, contact or home-address data. In extreme scenarios, vulnerabilities could enable interference with vehicle functions or connected infrastructure.
This concern is broader than an automaker selling driving scores. It includes who controls critical software and cloud services, where data is stored, how suppliers are vetted and whether a breach could move from personal information into public-safety systems.
What drivers can do now
- Read the connected-service settings before enrollment. Look for separate choices covering location, driving scores, recordings, personalized offers and sharing with third parties.
- Ask who receives the data and why. Distinguish service providers needed to operate the vehicle from data brokers, insurers and other secondary recipients.
- Use available controls. If the automaker offers opt-out, deletion, access or location-disablement tools, save confirmation of the request. GM owners should review the controls required by the FTC order.
- Check insurance disclosures. Ask your insurer whether telematics or consumer-reporting information is used in underwriting or pricing and what notice or dispute process applies.
- Limit app permissions. A phone app can add contacts, microphone, location and calendar data that the vehicle itself would not otherwise receive.
What stronger federal policy could look like
Debate over connected-car privacy generally turns on five choices:
| Policy choice | Stronger protection | Trade-off or unresolved question |
|---|---|---|
| Consent standard | Affirmative opt-in before collecting or sharing sensitive data | Emergency and essential-service exceptions must be narrowly defined. |
| Data scope | Cover location and driving behavior as well as cabin, identity and financial data | Rules must distinguish necessary safety functions from optional monetization. |
| Consumer controls | Access, deletion, portability, disablement and clear opt-outs | Some controls may be technically difficult while a vehicle is operating. |
| Downstream recipients | Transparency and limits for service providers, brokers, insurers and law enforcement | Data can change hands repeatedly unless onward sharing is tracked. |
| Enforcement | A clearly assigned regulator with meaningful, durable remedies | Federal authority must be coordinated with vehicle-safety and state rules. |
Bottom line
Smart cars can function as mobile data-collection platforms, and documented sharing has already reached companies connected to insurance pricing. The GM/OnStar order provides unusually specific protections, but it covers one enforcement case rather than the entire industry. Until federal responsibilities and baseline rights are clearer, drivers should treat connected-service enrollment as a privacy decision—not merely a convenience feature.
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