General Motors Co. is among the latest automakers to roll out new dash cam recording features on some of its models, a move industry analysts said is a long time coming and likely will become standard as the cost of cameras drops.

For GM, the security-focused over-the-air updates also are a chance at redemption after what federal regulators have described as an "egregious betrayal of consumers’ trust" when the automaker sold data on driver habits collected through past OnStar features.

This time around, the Detroit automaker is loudly touting a built-in data privacy safeguard that analysts say could also undermine some of the security benefits — recorded video is saved on driver-provided USB drives, not internet-connected remote servers. That means if the vehicle is stolen, video evidence of the theft is stolen too if the USB drive is inside, said iSeeCars.com executive analyst Karl Brauer.

"The concern isn't usually the camera," said Kalleigh Lane, managing editor of digital privacy advocacy organization All About Cookies, in an email. "It's what happens to the footage after the camera does its job."

GM's Security Recording feature automatically begins a 30-second internal and external recording when a vehicle's theft alarm is triggered. A notification about recording is shown on inside displays, GM spokesperson Anna Yu said, which could spook intruders and hopefully prevent theft.

GM's Surround Vision Recorder allows drivers to record external camera shots in two-hour loops — providing potentially helpful records, particularly in cases of accidents in which the driver is not at fault.

"These features are a direct result of ongoing customer research and feedback," Yu said in an email. "We’ve heard consistently from customers over the years that safety and security are two things they want across the board. As part of our research, we asked customers if these features would be of value to them and their feedback showed a strong interest and clear need."

Auto industry analysts say the move is an expected response from automakers hoping to get in on the popularity of vehicle cameras now primarily sold as accessories by third-party vendors.

"It was just a matter of time before everybody started doing this," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions LLC. "There have been cameras in the car aftermarket for crash recording or theft recording. It's an obvious white space that more automakers need to be in, and soon."

GM first offered the services in 2025 model year Cadillac Escalade IQ and Optiq electric SUVs, as well as Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans and GMC Yukons. GM is expanding the free, opt-in only features to 2027 models across its Cadillac, GMC and Chevrolet lineups.

Yu declined to share data on the number of drivers currently opted-in to Surround Vision Recorder and Security Recording.

The service is a clear opportunity to bring in easy profits if sold as a subscription service, Fiorani said. But there's also a competitive advantage to offer the feature for free, as GM is doing, to entice customers who have subscription fatigue or to lure buyers to higher-end models.

A built-in recording dash cam is standard on the 2027 Toyota Tundra pickup, for example. The opt-in feature captures 20-second clips of manual and "triggered" events, according to Toyota Motor Co.

"Marketed properly, the benefits can be shown for GM or any other manufacturer that you can see who's tampering with your vehicle, who is at fault in an accident, any number of benefits to the owner and the driver," Fiorani said.

Data privacy

GM and other carmakers need to tread carefully, privacy advocates said, or they risk alienating buyers worried about data security in increasingly software-heavy vehicles.

"The underlying issue is that people do not trust car companies," Lane said. "GM in particular was already in hot water in 2025 when the FTC moved against them and OnStar for collecting drivers' precise location and braking data and selling it to companies that fed it to insurers. So when GM ships a new feature that has the potential to gather even more data on customers, it can be a bit of a red flag given their track record."

GM discontinued its OnStar Smart Driver service in April 2024 in the wake of a New York Times report about the company selling driver information to data brokers, which in turn provided data to insurance companies.

The Federal Trade Commission in 2024 accused the company of using a "misleading enrollment process" for the service. The commission in January 2026 banned the company from similarly disclosing consumers’ geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years.

The FTC order also required GM to:

—Get affirmative consent for future collection, use and sharing of consumer data;

—Create a way for all U.S. consumers to request a copy of their data and seek its deletion;

—Give consumers the ability to disable the collection of precise geolocation data from their vehicles if their vehicle has the necessary technology; and

—Provide a way for consumers to opt out of the collection of geolocation and driver behavior data, with some limited exceptions.

For GM's latest dash cam features, Yu stressed that drivers must opt in for the update and can disable the features at any time.

"Neither camera will record or save without the customer’s USB inserted," Yu said. "GM does not store or have access to any of the recordings."

Lane praised GM's USB drive as "genuinely one of the better designs available, because you don't have to trust them to keep the data safe and private in their clouds."

"Based on how GM has described its system, there is no way for GM to receive the data at all since it's only saved on the drive," Lane said. "This should help keep data more private, but it requires consumers to trust that the company does not have any type of copy of the footage at all."

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