More of GM’s 2027 lineup will ship with the automaker’s two recording systems, arriving through over-the-air software updates. Security Recording and the Surround Vision Recorder reached a handful of 2025 vehicles across the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands when they first appeared.
An alarm trip is what wakes Security Recording, which keeps the previous 30 seconds from one cabin camera and four mounted outside. Its companion, the Surround Vision Recorder, treats exterior video as a rolling two-hour buffer, with the oldest material erased first.
The privacy design is the notable part. Neither feature activates unless the owner opts in, both need a USB drive supplied by the driver, and GM says it neither stores nor can access what lands on that stick.
Regulators supply the context. An FTC complaint from January 2025 alleged the automaker and OnStar moved precise location and driving-behavior records from the Smart Driver program into sales channels without proper consent. The order that followed, finalized in January 2026, runs for five years, keeps that data away from consumer reporting agencies and makes opt-in consent mandatory for connected-vehicle data.
Local storage is not a complete answer. A thief who drives off with the car takes the USB drive and the footage with it, and the cabin camera still watches passengers.
Rivals are moving the same way. Toyota’s 2027 Tundra carries a standard Drive Recorder Dash Cam that saves 20-second clips from the truck’s exterior cameras. As recording hardware becomes standard equipment, the argument shifts from whether cars watch to who holds the video.
