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UK Auto Insurer Will Use Facebook Data To Set Premium (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Major UK insurer Admiral has announced that it will use data garnered from Facebook profiles to help set insurance premiums for first-time drivers. The company intends to examine Facebook data including likes and posts for safe driver indicators: writing in short, concrete sentences and making concrete plans with friends using specific times and dates, rather than just 'tonight', for example, can show that a person is conscientious and well-organized, as can the use of lists. These traits are associated with safer drivers, who are less likely to file a claim with the company. Yossi Borenstein, the principal data scientist for the project, noted that the indicators of safe drivers are constantly evolving. "Our algorithm for calculating what 'safe' looks like is constantly learning, as we match social data to actual claims data." The program has already caused a storm of controversy, with some privacy rights activist groups noting that the program violates Facebook's Platform Policy, Section 3.15, which clearly says,"Don't use data obtained from Facebook to make decisions about eligibility, including whether to approve or reject an application or how much interest to charge on a loan."
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/11/facebook-scuppers-algorithmic-car-insurance/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37847647
This has already been shot down by Facebook
Will insurance be free for those responsible and prudent enough to not use facebook?
When Facebook says you’re being too evil, that should be a wake up call. . .
I remember the good old days, when insurance companies used myspace to set insurance premiums.
Now get off my lawn!
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Too bad facebook blocked it because it makes for a great business opportunity:
You pay me to run a bot that rewrites all your facebook posts to conform to whatever scoring system the insurance companies use to decide that you should get the cheapest possible rates.
If these companies are going to be stupid enough to take data that I have control over and use that to make business decisions that can benefit me, I'm sure as shit going to use that channel to exploit them for every penny I can. Those assholes will get what they deserve.
The Orwellian privacy issues were introduced the moment you started using Facebook. The data is there for anyone. So FB blocked one idiot that was dumb enough to make a press release about it. How many others are doing in quietly?
Prepare for a flood of Facebook posts that read something like: "Fastening my safety belt and driving below the speed limit on my way to the movies with my friends"
Bull crap! American companies better not start doing this too. I'm one of the few people who does not use Facebook, or any social media for that matter. If a company starts using Facebook data to determine things about me, they better ASSUME THE BEST or it is downright discrimination. So for auto insurance, I better get the best rate, as if I had everything they were looking for on my non-existing Facebook account.
Just like how they assume the best about you when you apply for a mortage and have no credit history because you don't use credit cards, and use a pre-paid phone, etc?
Good luck with that.
On the upside at least, if your someone who doesn't use facebook, you can hire someone to create a profile for you, and have them go around liking 'seatbelts'*1, non-alcoholic beer *2, MADD, Volvo Wagons *3, and making periodic posts saying you will be picking up the milk, bread, cheese, and organic lettuce, at the whole foods*4 at 321 Main Street, at 4:35 pm (*5), unless it is raining*6
*1 - safety!
*2 - non drinker
*3 - boring and safe
*4 - healthy!
*5 - organized and precise
*6 - because you don't make unnecessary trips if it is raining.
* (indicating your are very health conscious)
Step one: Make a Facebook profile (either your first or an additional one) and add a few friends.
Step two: Post lots of short updates matching their expected "safe driver" ruleset.
Step three: Point your insurer at that account and enjoy lower premiums.
I think this is an excellent idea from the insurers, and I encourage anyone I'm about to borrow money from to use the same process. Please.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
A less charitable (but imho more realistic) view of Facebook's uncooperative attitude would be that Facebook objects to someone extracting value from their data without paying them first. And wants to make sure they're covered against legal fallout about the quality of the data they're providing. After all, they wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a class action suit for not exercising due diligence in providing tamper-proof data.
As to Facebook's "rules", look at e.g. LinkedIn. I'm quite certain that headhunters take people's LinkedIn profile into consideration and use it to co-determine whether to contact someone and who to recommend them to at what salary level. So why not Facebook? One might say it's because Facebook is not explicitly aimed at job-marketing yourself, but that's but an extra service (agreement) away.
This sort of development would markedly increase the commercial value of Facebook's data.
I therefore believe it won't be long now before Facebook launches something comparable, as a paid service. Lets call it the "Facebook Automatic Reference Transmission Service", whereby Facebook (for a fee) asserts to third parties that person ABC has maintined a Facebook presence and that the user's posts satisfy criteria XYZ. Whereby XYZ would be configurable by the party doing the asking (and paying Facebook's fees).
And it's free for anyone wanting to take it because I'm, to be honest, too lazy to carry it out.
Facebook optimizer.
Like SEO, just for Facebook profiles. Want to pay less for your insurance? Be attractive to recruiters? Appear law abiding to law enforcement? Visit pimp my profile for the latest informations and our low, low prices!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.