“U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate and hold responsible automakers and their data broker partners, for disclosing data on millions of Americans, without consent in a letter today. An investigation by Wyden revealed new facts regarding automakers’ disclosure of driving data, such as sudden braking and acceleration, to data brokers for subsequent resale to insurance companies. General Motors (GM) also confirmed to Wyden’s office that it shared customers’ location data with two other companies, which GM refused to identify. The senators’ letter to the FTC included new details about GM, Honda, and Hyundai’s sharing of drivers’ data with data brokers, including details about the payments the data broker Verisk made to automakers. Based on information Wyden obtained from automakers, the senators revealed:

• Hyundai shared data from 1.7 million cars with Verisk, which paid Hyundai $1,043,315.69, or 61 cents per car;
• Honda shared data from 97,000 cars with the data broker Verisk, which paid Honda $25,920, or 26 cents per car;
• Automakers used deceptive design tactics, known as “dark patterns,” to manipulate consumers into signing up for programs in which driver data was shared with data brokers, for subsequent resale to insurance companies.

The privacy practices of automakers have been under increased public scrutiny this year. The New York Times published an investigative series into automakers’ sharing of driver data with data brokers. In April, Wyden and Markey released the results of an investigation into automakers’ disclosure of location data with law enforcement agencies. The senators today also published an updated chart summarizing the results of that April investigation, to reflect new information received from Volvo Cars, indicating that the company now requires a warrant for customer location data.The text of the letter is here.