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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: 3, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday November 02 2016, @11:16AM
> So now I have to fake a facebook profile (And some friends?) to make it look like I'm in their "acceptable social profile" in order to get a discount on my car insurance? Would that be fraud? I'm guessing yes.
Obviously it depends how much of your £280 they will discount for using the right words in your fake profile, but if you can set up a little facebook profile in an hour it might be worth your time.
Think of it as getting paid to type in a bunch of crap into a computer, which is all most of us round here do all day anyway.
Of course, if you're going to spend time on it, why not write a script / bot that would take the drudge out of creating a facebook account and populating it with insurance-friendly content? User would still have to enter some authentic data and complete the captchas, but the 'bot could then automatically fill in a few dozen "I am currently organising my socks by colour. Maybe then I will meet my friends at 8:43 sharp" posts.
(Score: 2) by Sarasani on Wednesday November 02 2016, @11:34AM
Think of it as getting paid to type in a bunch of crap into a computer, which is all most of us round here do all day anyway.
You get paid to post on SoylentNews?
(Score: 2) by ticho on Wednesday November 02 2016, @01:33PM
Wait, you don't?
(Score: 4, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday November 02 2016, @02:18PM
Sure I do! BTW Microsoft is awesome, global warming is fake and smoking cleans your lungs.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday November 02 2016, @06:06PM
Oh, excellent. I'm glad you have a succession plan in place, Mr. Johnson.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday November 02 2016, @12:06PM
Of course, if you're going to spend time on it, why not write a script / bot
Or if they're offering $350 why not buy my service that costs $100? Seems a fair split.
Note that burner FB accounts for buying "likes" cost way the hell less than $100 per account.