You didn’t plug in a black insurance dongle. You never signed up for a “safe driver” program. And yet your car might still be quietly telling an insurance company how you drive.
That sounds like a stretch until you look at what’s actually happening under the hood of a modern connected car. Cars built in the last several years often ship with a built-in cellular connection and a long list of “connected services” you agreed to during setup, sometimes without reading much of it. That connection can carry data about how hard you brake, how fast you accelerate, and how many miles you drive at night.
Your Car Doesn’t Need a Dongle to Be a Data Source
Usage-based insurance used to mean a physical device you plugged into your car’s diagnostic port, or an app you had to actively turn on. You knew you were being tracked because you chose to be, and usually because your insurer offered a discount in exchange.
Connected cars work differently. The telematics hardware is already built in. Automakers like GM, Ford, Honda, and Subaru have offered “connected services” packages for years, often bundled with things drivers actually want, like remote start or stolen vehicle tracking. Enrolling in those services, sometimes as part of a free trial you accepted at the dealership, can also enroll you in data collection you never specifically agreed to for insurance purposes.
So the tradeoff isn’t always visible. You’re not choosing “insurance discount for data.” You may just be choosing “convenient app for my car,” and the data-sharing piece is buried a few screens deep in the terms.
How Connected Cars Actually Collect Driving Data
A few different systems can be gathering information at once:
- Embedded telematics modems. A built-in SIM reports speed, location, braking patterns, and mileage to the automaker’s servers in near real time.
- Automaker apps. Apps like myGM or FordPass ask you to accept data-sharing terms during setup, bundled with the convenience features drivers actually want.
- OnStar-style subscriptions. Safety and navigation subscriptions can include a driver-behavior scoring feature running quietly in the background, separate from crash detection.
None of this requires you to install anything extra. If your car has a cellular connection and you’ve activated any connected app, the data pipeline may already exist.
Where That Data Goes Before It Reaches Your Insurer
Here’s the path the data tends to follow, broken into plain steps:
- Your car collects it. Onboard sensors and the telematics modem log speed, braking, acceleration, and mileage.
- The automaker’s servers receive it. Raw data uploads through your connected-services subscription.
- An analytics firm compiles it. Companies such as LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk aggregate data from multiple automakers into a “driving behavior” report.
- Insurers pull the report. At renewal or when you shop for a new policy, an insurer can request it, the same way it might pull a credit-based insurance score.
The result is a system that can look a lot like a credit check, except most drivers don’t know the report exists until something about their premium changes.
Why This Is Suddenly Getting Attention in 2026
This isn’t hypothetical. It’s been playing out in public for a couple of years, and 2026 brought it to a head.
- California’s Attorney General announced a $12.75 million settlement with GM in May 2026 over allegations it sold driver data without adequate consent.
- The FTC finalized a consent order with GM and OnStar in January 2026, barring the company from sharing geolocation and driver-behavior data with consumer reporting agencies for five years.
- Five states introduced telematics privacy bills in 2026, aiming for clearer, standalone consent before a car can share driving data with a third party.
- Allstate is facing lawsuits alleging it used driving data on roughly 45 million drivers without proper disclosure.
None of this means every connected car is secretly selling your data. But regulators clearly think current disclosure practices haven’t been good enough, and that’s worth paying attention to.
Voluntary Usage-Based Insurance vs. Data Sharing You Didn’t Notice
It helps to separate two things that get lumped together but work very differently in practice.
| What you’re comparing | Voluntary usage-based insurance (UBI) | Connected-services data sharing |
|---|---|---|
| How you enroll | You actively opt in through your insurer’s app or a mailed device | Often bundled into a connected-services or app setup screen at purchase or first login |
| What’s disclosed | Insurer explains the discount, the tracking, and how scoring works upfront | Buried in multi-page terms during vehicle or app setup, easy to skim past |
| Who sees the data | Your insurer, for the specific program you joined | The automaker, then potentially a data broker, then any insurer that requests a report |
| Can you turn it off | Yes, usually by canceling the program without losing your policy | Depends on the brand; sometimes it’s a toggle, sometimes it’s tied to the whole connected-services subscription |
| Effect on premium | May lower it if your driving data looks favorable; framed as a discount, not a penalty | May raise it at renewal if the report flags aggressive driving patterns, with no discount ever offered in exchange |
The first column is a trade you agreed to. The second is a byproduct of a feature you turned on for a different reason entirely. Both can affect what you pay, but only one of them asked first.
A Practical Checklist for Taking Back Some Control
You can’t undo data that’s already been shared, but you can find out what’s happening going forward and push back where it matters.
- Check your car’s privacy settings. Look under Settings, Connectivity, or Connected Vehicle Features on the infotainment screen, and under Privacy or Data Preferences in the automaker’s app. Many brands added a clearer opt-out toggle after the 2026 scrutiny.
- Request your consumer disclosure report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you’re entitled to a free copy of your file from LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk. Ask specifically for any driving behavior or telematics data on you.
- Opt out of data-sharing programs directly. No toggle in the app? Contact the automaker’s customer service or privacy line and ask them to stop sharing driver-behavior data with third parties.
- File a complaint if data was shared without clear consent. The CFPB and the FTC both take complaints about data brokers and consumer reporting agencies. If you can’t get a straight answer, here’s how to file a CFPB complaint and get it on record.
None of these steps guarantee your premium won’t move. But knowing what’s being collected, and asking for it in writing, puts you in a better position than finding out after the fact.
The Bigger Picture: Your Car Is One Piece of a Larger Data Trail
Connected cars are just one channel feeding into a much larger data-broker ecosystem that also touches your shopping habits and your financial accounts. It’s worth understanding how data brokers compile and sell financial data more broadly, since the same companies often sit at the center of both worlds. The same habit of checking what you’ve agreed to share applies to how your digital wallet handles your card data and how your bank logs you in, too.
What to Take Away From This
Your driving data can influence your insurance bill even if you never signed up for a tracking program on purpose. The path runs from your car, through the automaker, through an analytics firm like LexisNexis or Verisk, and into an insurer’s underwriting file. That’s a lot of hands touching information you might assume was private.
The fix isn’t complicated: check your settings, pull your reports, opt out where you can, and file a complaint if something doesn’t add up. None of it costs money, and all of it puts you back in the loop on a decision currently being made mostly without you.
This article explains how connected car data can affect insurance pricing in general terms. It isn’t legal or insurance advice, and it isn’t a promise about what will happen to your premium. Rules on telematics data vary by state and by insurer. When in doubt, contact your insurer directly or reach out to the CFPB or FTC with questions about a specific company’s data practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which car companies have sold driving data to insurance companies?
GM and its OnStar service drew the most public attention, including a 2026 settlement with California’s Attorney General and an FTC consent order. Other automakers have faced questions too, and the scrutiny has pushed several brands to clarify their data-sharing settings. Check your automaker’s privacy page for current details, since policies keep changing.
What is connected car insurance and how is it different from usage-based insurance?
Connected car insurance uses telematics data, driving behavior collected through your vehicle’s built-in systems, to help price your policy. Usage-based insurance (UBI) usually means a program you actively join through your insurer. Connected car data sharing can happen through the automaker instead, sometimes without a discount or a clear insurance-specific opt-in.
Does my insurance company have access to my car’s GPS and driving data?
It can, if you’re enrolled in a telematics program through your insurer, or if your automaker shares driving-behavior data with a consumer reporting agency your insurer pulls from. Your insurer generally can’t access your car’s GPS directly without one of those paths in place.
How do I opt out of my car sharing driving data?
Start with your car’s infotainment settings and the automaker’s connected-services app, looking for a privacy or data-sharing toggle. If you can’t find one, contact the automaker’s privacy or customer service line directly and ask them to stop sharing your driver-behavior data with third parties, including consumer reporting agencies.
How do I get my LexisNexis or Verisk driving behavior report?
You can request a free consumer disclosure report directly from LexisNexis Risk Solutions and from Verisk under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Ask specifically for any driving behavior, telematics, or auto-related data in your file, not just your general consumer report.
