[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 19 (Thursday, January 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8528-8530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01940]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 242 3052]
General Motors and OnStar, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent
Order To Aid Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of
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Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The
attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment
describes both the allegations in the complaint and the terms of the
consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle
these allegations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 3, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``GM and OnStar;
File No. 242 3052'' on your comment and file your comment online at
https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, please mail
your comment to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex L), Washington, DC
20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Teng (206-220-4482), Breena Roos
(206-220-4472), and Sarah Shifley (202-220-4475), Northwest Region,
Federal Trade Commission, 915 Second Ave., Room 2896, Seattle, WA
98174.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec. 2.34, 16 CFR
2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of 30 days. The following
Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent
agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of
the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained at
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before March 3, 2025.
Write ``GM and OnStar; File No. 242 3052'' on your comment. Your
comment--including your name and your State--will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable,
on the https://www.regulations.gov website.
Because of heightened security screening, postal mail addressed to
the Commission will be subject to delay. We strongly encourage you to
submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov
website. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``GM and
OnStar; File No. 242 3052'' on your comment and on the envelope, and
send it via overnight service to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex L),
Washington, DC 20580.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for
making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include sensitive
personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security
number; date of birth; driver's license number or other State
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include
sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec.
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c). In
particular, the written request for confidential treatment that
accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for
the request and must identify the specific portions of the comment to
be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c). Your
comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants
your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once
your comment has been posted on the https://www.regulations.gov
website--as legally required by FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(b)--we cannot redact
or remove your comment from that website, unless you submit a
confidentiality request that meets the requirements for such treatment
under FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c), and the General Counsel grants that
request.
Visit the FTC website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this document
and the news release describing the proposed settlement. The FTC Act
and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of
public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate.
The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments
it receives on or before March 3, 2025. For information on the
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from General
Motors LLC, General Motors Holdings LLC, and OnStar, LLC (collectively
``Respondents''). The proposed consent order (``Proposed Order'') has
been placed on the public record for 30 days for receipt of public
comments from interested persons. Comments received during this period
will become part of the public record. After 30 days, the Commission
will again review the agreement, along with the comments received, and
will decide whether it should make the Proposed Order final or withdraw
from the agreement and take appropriate action.
Respondent General Motors LLC is a Delaware limited liability
company with its principal office or place of business at 300
Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan 48243. General Motors LLC is a
wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Company, a Delaware
corporation. Respondent General Motors Holdings LLC is a Delaware
limited liability company with its principal office or place of
business at 300 Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan 48243. General
Motors Holdings LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors
Company, a Delaware corporation. Respondent OnStar, LLC is a Delaware
limited liability company with its principal office or place of
business at 400 Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. OnStar, LLC is
a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Company, a Delaware
corporation 48243. Respondents manufacture and sell vehicles under the
Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick brands (collectively, the ``GM-
branded'' vehicles) in the United States. Respondents offer connected
car services for GM-branded vehicles under the OnStar brand.
Respondents collect precise geolocation and driver behavior data
from the GM-branded vehicles and then use and sell that data to third
parties. Respondents do not obtain consumers'
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specific consent for using precise geolocation and driver behavior data
and sell that same data to third parties, including consumer reporting
agencies that compile consumer reports with the data for insurance
purposes. As a result of these practices, consumers have experienced
loss of auto insurance coverage, unexpected increases in insurance
premiums, as well as the loss of privacy about sensitive locations they
visit and their day-to-day movements.
The Commission's proposed a two-count complaint alleges that
Respondents violated section 5(a) of the FTC Act by (1) unfairly using
and disclosing precise geolocation and driver behavior data without
taking reasonable steps to obtain consumers' affirmative express
consent prior to collection, and (2) deceptively failing to disclose
Respondents' uses and disclosure of that same data. With respect to the
first count, the proposed complaint alleges that Respondents do not
obtain affirmative express consent to sell consumers' precise
geolocation and driver behavior data to third parties, including
consumer reporting agencies. The proposed complaint alleges that this
practice caused, or is likely to cause, substantial injury to consumers
that is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or
competition and is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves.
With respect to the second count, the proposed complaint alleges that
Respondents' failure to disclose their actual use and sharing of
drivers' precise geolocation and driver behavior data was deceptive;
Respondents did not disclose to consumers that it would be sharing this
data with third parties, including consumer reporting agencies for
insurance purposes, which led to consumers being denied auto insurance
coverage and having their auto insurance premiums increased.
Summary of Proposed Order With Respondents
The Proposed Order contains injunctive relief designed to prevent
Respondents from engaging in the same or similar acts or practices in
the future. Provision I prohibits Respondents for five years from
sharing certain geolocation and driver behavior data with consumer
reporting agencies. Provision II requires Respondents to obtain
affirmative express consent prior to the collection, use, and sharing
of certain geolocation and driver behavior data. This provision
includes carve-outs for, among other things, responding to consumer-
initiated communication, safety-enhancing research and development,
diagnostics and prognostics, and providing necessary information in
case of an emergency. Provision III requires that Respondents provide
consumers the ability to withhold or withdraw affirmative express
consent to the collection, use, and sharing of certain geolocation and
driver behavior data. Provision IV limits Respondents' data collection
to that which is reasonably necessary to fulfill the specific purpose
for which it was collected.
Provision V requires Respondents to create a retention schedule for
certain geolocation and driver behavior data they collect that is tied
to the purpose for which the data is collected, the business need for
retaining it, and the timeframe for deleting it. Provision VI requires
Respondents to delete certain geolocation and driver behavior data
previously collected without consumers' affirmative express consent. It
also provides Respondents the opportunity to obtain consumers'
affirmative express consent to retain previously collected geolocation
and driver behavior data. This provision includes exceptions for
safety, warranties, prognostics and diagnostics, legal or regulatory
requirements, and research and development. Provision VII requires
Respondents to provide all consumers the ability to request a copy of
their geolocation and driver behavior data and to request that such
data be deleted. Provision VIII requires Respondents to request third
parties with whom it has previously shared certain geolocation and
driver behavior data to delete that data and to not engage in further
sharing with third parties that fail to respond to such requests.
Provision IX requires Respondents to ensure consumers can disable
collection of precise geolocation data from their vehicles. The
provision includes exceptions for emergency response and responding to
consumer-initiated requests. Provision X provides consumers the ability
to fully opt out of collection of all data with narrow exclusions for
consumer-initiated communication, safety, and over-the-air updates.
This provision is unique to the Proposed Order. Provision XI prohibits
Respondents from misrepresenting information regarding their
collection, use, sharing, and deletion of consumers' geolocation and
driver behavior data.
Provisions XII-XV are reporting and compliance provisions, which
include recordkeeping requirements and provisions requiring Respondents
to provide information or documents necessary for the Commission to
monitor compliance. Provision XVI states that the Proposed Order will
remain in effect for 20 years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
Proposed Order, and it is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint or Proposed Order, or to modify the
Proposed Order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Joel Christie,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-01940 Filed 1-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P