Consumers did not agree to have their data collected and sold, especially the data which is personally sensitive and impacts their lives and their wallets.
Smart TVs record private conversations
LG TVs are currently the most egregious example of smart TVs recording our data. Some models record conversations, even when not connected to the internet, only to transmit that information later when a network connection is restored.
In fact, LG’s terms of service now warn its customers that it is the customer’s responsibility to comply with privacy laws by informing any guests in the space that the TV will be recording them this way.
https://mezha.ua/en/news/lg-requires-tv-owners-to-warn-guests-about-ai-voice-recording-313396/
Cars sell your data to insurance companies
GM’s OnStar Smart Driver system collected driving information such as vehicle location, speed, acceleration, braking, seatbelt use, time of day, ignition events. This personalized data was then sold to companies including LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Verisk, Wejo and Jacobs, who then sold this information to insurance companies, who use it in determining insurance rates and coverage. The FTC says some consumers discovered that their insurance rates had increased based on the driving information.
Michael Terrana allegedly had his insurance rate raised because of false “near miss collisions” sold to his insurance company. In written testimony to the Vermont Legislature in May 2026, Privacy4Cars described Terrana’s experience: he obtained his driving-data report from a data broker and found that almost every day around 5:30 p.m. the system recorded a “near-miss collision, small object.” He eventually realized that the “small objects” were his cats running out to greet him when he pulled into his driveway after work.
The testimony says these incidents contributed to a risk score that followed him and may have contributed to higher insurance costs. The testimony cites a September 2025 presentation/video about the case as its source.
Kenn Dahl, a Seattle-area software-company owner who leased a Chevrolet Bolt, alleges that his insurance premium went up 21% in 2022, and when he obtained his LexisNexis consumer report, he discovered that it contained more than 130 pages documenting 640 trips in the Bolt over six months. The report recorded trip dates, start and end times, distance, hard braking, rapid acceleration. LexisNexis had obtained the information through GM’s connected-car ecosystem.