On February 26, Iowa’s attorney general announced that her office filed a petition in the Iowa District Court for Polk County, alleging that an automaker and a subsidiary telematics service provider violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act by deceptively collecting, analyzing, and selling Iowans’ driving data without their knowledge or consent. The attorney general claimed the companies installed telematics systems since the 2015 model year that tracked detailed information such as speed, acceleration, braking, seatbelt usage, and location, and then sold that data to third-party brokers for resale to insurance companies. According to the petition, more than 186,000 vehicles in Iowa were affected, and insurers allegedly used the data from these vehicles to raise premiums, deny coverage, or cancel policies, all while consumers were purportedly falsely led to believe enrollment in certain services and mobile applications was necessary for safety features.

The petition claimed that the defendants concealed material facts about their data practices in lengthy, complex disclosures and misrepresented the scope and purpose of connected services, mobile applications, and driving score programs. The attorney general further alleged that dealership employees were incentivized to enroll customers in these services without informed consent, and that personal information was shared with brokers who purportedly marketed access to insurers. The petition also noted that, earlier in January, the FTC finalized an order against the two defendants imposing a five-year ban on disclosing certain vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $40,000 per violation, plus increased penalties for violations against older individuals, along with restitution for affected consumers, deletion of improperly obtained data, disgorgement of profits, and an injunction to stop further unlawful practices.