A Palm Beach County driver is suing General Motors, OnStar LLC and LexisNexis Risk Solutions Inc. in federal court, alleging that his auto insurance costs soared after the defendants shared his driving data without his permission.
Romeo Chicco filed the class-action complaint in the Southern District of Florida on March 13, blaming the defendants for “erroneous reports of derogatory and negative driving information” being disclosed to insurers without Chicco’s consent.
The lawsuit alleges that what happened to the plaintiff represents violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
“... This illegal transfer and publication of data constitutes an invasion of privacy,” the complaint states. “(The) defendants’ collective conduct caused (the) plaintiff damages and significant emotional distress.”
General Motors did not offer a response directly about the allegations in the lawsuit, but a spokesman said data sharing has been restricted since the lawsuit was filed.
“As of March 20, OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk (Analytics),” Kevin Kelly, senior director of GM’s Corporate News Relations, told the Florida Record in an email. “Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.”
A spokeswoman for LexisNexis Risk Solutions said the company would not comment on pending litigation.
Chicco purchased a new Cadillac XT6 in November 2021 but never enrolled or paid for OnStar’s safety and security coverage, according to the lawsuit. About two years later, his auto insurer said it was canceling his policy. Another company later rejected his request for auto coverage due to information in a LexisNexis report, the complaint says, and he ultimately found an insurance policy at a cost that was twice as expensive as his former policy.
The plaintiff never opted into any program with OnStar to share driving data – such as accelerations, hard braking events or high-speed situations – with insurers, according to the lawsuit.
In addition, Chicco’s “Telematics” data never included any context related to the driving situations or defensive driving practices, the complaint says.
“Stating these events, by themselves, says nothing of the other driving conditions and factors (the) plaintiff may have experienced,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint does not specify exactly how many people may be proposed class members but estimates the number to be in the “several thousands.” The lawsuit seeks damages related to the defendants’ sharing of driving data without consumers’ consent in recent years, including actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, litigation costs and awards for invasion of privacy.
The litigation was filed less than a month prior to Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate data-sharing practices by automakers.
“Based on public reporting and responses to my own inquiries into these practices, automakers face few, if any, limitations on the collection, use and disclosure of this data,” the Democratic U.S. senator said in a prepared statement. “Consumers are often left in the dark. I therefore urge the FTC to investigate the automakers’ data practices and take all necessary actions to protect the privacy of all road users.”
Representing Chicco is a San Diego law firm, Kazerouni Law Group.