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from the we-told-you-this-would-happen dept.
In a move that should surprise no-one, The Guardian reports that :
One of the biggest insurance companies in Britain is to use social media to analyse the personalities of car owners and set the price of their insurance.
The unprecedented move highlights the start of a new era for how companies use online personal data and will start a debate about privacy.
Admiral Insurance will analyse the Facebook accounts of first-time car owners to look for personality traits that are linked to safe driving. For example, individuals who are identified as conscientious and well-organised will score well.
The insurer will examine posts and likes by the Facebook user, although not photos, looking for habits that research shows are linked to these traits. These include writing in short concrete sentences, using lists, and arranging to meet friends at a set time and place, rather than just "tonight".
As usual the insurer claims that this is "voluntary," where "voluntary" means you'll pay an extra amount up to £350 if you choose to protect your privacy.
The long term goal is to add other social media platforms, and yes, "...we've been working closely with Facebook in Europe to get the service ready"
(Score: 4, Touché) by art guerrilla on Wednesday November 02 2016, @10:43AM
...no license ? ? ?
guess i'll be walking a lot more...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Wednesday November 02 2016, @11:35AM
That will soon be rectified and outlawed. Cannot have freeriders going their merry way!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02 2016, @08:19PM
Cannot have freeriders going their merry way!
"Freewalkers".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02 2016, @11:41AM
no. No facebook, no (affordable) insurance is how this would likely turn out. It has nothing to do with getting a driving licence - something which in the UK is already a mechanism to wring money out of people due to fairly pointless extra tests.
If 17 year old drivers are inherently dangerous, then they should up the minimum driving age. The fact that they haven't shows that it is a small minority of dickheads at this age who cause most of the problems.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by t-3 on Wednesday November 02 2016, @02:56PM
Even if it could be shown that 17 year olds were worse drivers, I'd bet if they moved the minimum age to 30, 30 year olds would be bad drivers too. Being new = making more mistakes. Some young people may be more apt to take risks, but many people start out anxious and afraid and become more fearless with the confidence of age and world experience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02 2016, @05:27PM
Also to note: It's around 17 that you start *needing* access to transportation for a variety of things: Jobs, Social Gatherings, moving, etc...