Florida man sues GM and LexisNexis for selling his Cadillac data

When Romeo Chicco tried to get car insurance in December, seven different companies turned him down. When he finally got insurance, it was almost double the rate he was previously paying. According to a federal complaint filed this week seeking class action status, this was because his 2021 Cadillac XT6 was spying on him.

Modern cars are called ‘smartphones with wheels’ because they are connected to the internet and packed with sensors and cameras. According to the complaint, an agent at Liberty Mutual told Mr. Chicco that he had been rejected because of information in his “LexisNexis Report.” LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a data broker, traditionally tracks drivers’ traffic violations, previous insurance coverage and accidents for insurers.

When Mr. Chicco requested his LexisNexis file, it contained details of 258 trips he had made in his Cadillac over the past six months. His file included the distance he had driven, when the trips started and ended, and a record of any speeding violations and hard braking or acceleration. The data was provided by General Motors, the manufacturer of its Cadillac.

In a complaint against General Motors and LexisNexis Risk Solutions filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Mr. Chicco accused the companies of violating privacy and consumer protection laws. The lawsuit follows a report by The New York Times that, unknown to consumers, automakers have shared information about their driving habits with the insurance industry, leading to higher insurance rates for some drivers. LexisNexis Risk Solutions and another data broker called Verisk claim to have the driving habits of millions of cars in the real world.

In his complaint, Mr. Chicco said he repeatedly called GM and LexisNexis to ask why his data had been collected without his consent. Ultimately, he was told that his data had been sent through OnStar — GM’s connected services company also named in the lawsuit — and that he had enrolled in OnStar’s Smart Driver program, a feature for obtaining driver feedback and digital badges for good driving behavior.

Mr. Chicco said he had not signed up for OnStar or Smart Driver, although he had downloaded MyCadillac, a General Motors app, for his car.

“What no one can tell me is how I signed up for it,” Mr. Chicco told The Times in an interview this month. “You can tell me how many times I accelerated hard between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. on January 30, but you can’t tell me how I signed up for this?”

A GM spokeswoman, Malorie Lucich, previously said that customers signed up for SmartDriver in their connected car app or at the dealer, and that a clause in the OnStar privacy declaration explained that their data could be shared with ‘third parties’. Asked about the lawsuit, she said by email that the company was “reviewing the complaint,” and had no comment, instead pointing to a statement the company previously made about OnStar Smart Driver.

“GM’s OnStar Smart Driver service is optional for customers,” the statement said. “Customer benefits include learning more information about their safe driving habits or vehicle performance, which, with their consent, can be used to obtain insurance quotes. Customers can also unsubscribe from Smart Driver at any time.”

LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which previously said it analyzed the kind of driving data Mr. Chicco found in his file to create a risk score that it then sold to insurers, declined to comment.

“I would never have allowed this information to come out,” Mr. Chicco previously said. Reached after the lawsuit was filed, he said he had no comment.

David Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown who previously headed the consumer protection bureau at the Federal Trade Commission, said the driving data companies collected was considered highly sensitive, meaning there should be “clear notice” to consumers and explicit consent to its collection. and sales.

Mr. Vladeck said he would expect an investigation by the FTC, as well as consumer lawsuits against the automakers and data brokers.

“Just wait for the avalanche,” he said. “It’s coming.”