GM: We Can Sell Your Data Because You Drive On Public Roads

The United States is a hodgepodge of laws and standards that can change drastically from state to state, but in many cases, you can be filmed or otherwise recorded in a public place without much you can do to stop it. General Motors is using that concept as the basis for its argument against a lawsuit that states the automaker violated its owners’ privacy by selling their data without consent.

GM’s definition of driving data includes the vehicle’s location, routes, braking events, and speed, and the automaker states that the data is collected on “public thoroughfares.” It claimed that the plaintiffs’ claim to a “reasonable expectation of privacy” was negated by the fact that the “roadways are public, and these behaviors are observed by all.” The data being sold is used to determine insurance rates, target advertisements, and other activities, meaning drivers could get a more expensive insurance bill without having been caught speeding.

That argument might work if all GM’s vehicles were collecting was basic, superficial information, but a random roadside observer would have no way of “seeing” all of the data the automaker grabs. While GM and its partners are seeking to dismiss the case using that argument, the outcome could have a significant impact on our driving lives going forward and could change how we view in-vehicle privacy. Let’s just hope the courts fall on the right side of the issue, which, for all drivers, is to provide some level of privacy behind the wheel.

[Images: General Motors]

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