Why social media
Historically, the insurance industry has operated knowing little about its customers ?; However, now with the new technologies and the Internet, it no longer. When accessing the social media profiles of customers, insurance companies are able to dig a little deeper into their habits. Have accurate customer information will enable companies to adjust premiums to reflect each client's lifestyle and potentially save both parties money. Although some consumers may see benefits in the form of lower premiums, others may be a little uncomfortable to know that their insurance company to check on their social media accounts.
How are insurance companies using social media?
The use of social media has not yet been standardized within the insurance industry, so it is something that varies between companies. That said, it seems that social media is a boon for insurers and adjusters who create individual policies and evaluate applications. In the past, the only information they were either self-reported or generalized, which made identifying fraudulent claims more difficult. In fact, the incentive to use social media in this way began in part to fight against insurance fraud. As such, insurance companies are more likely to snoop on your profiles if they suspect something may be off. If information about a reported incident can be found online, the insurance company may well use this information to infer causation and the extent of damage. Until recently, it was mostly the extent of the use of social media by the insurance companies, but some insurance companies are now looking to use data on a much larger scale in a way that affects more premiums directly.
Due to the differences between enterprises, there is no absolute certainty about how your social media information is used. As of 2012, some companies have acknowledged data mining social media for outside investigation of claims. That said, the number of companies that mine the data, and exactly how the data is used is ambiguous because nothing currently requires that this information be disclosed.
Beyond just watching social media, some companies are starting programs "opt-in" that reward customers with lower premiums for the sharing of relevant personal data, as reported by the New York Times. For example, an automobile insurer require GPS data to see how customers drives, while a health insurer would ask Fitbit or other fitness application data in order to adjust premiums in time based on real daily activity. Currently these opt-in programs, no penalties, which means your rate will not jump if companies evaluate you wrong; you will simply be rewarded for good behavior in the form of lower premiums. For example, someone with Fitbit data indicates that training several times a week would be given slight reductions in premiums, while someone who would not know any change in their prime.
While opting to share your data might not have apparent disadvantages, it probably comes at the cost of your privacy. Companies still have to disclose how the data is used, where it is stored and who "owns" the data. If the data is not encrypted properly, this could be an additional means for hackers and identity thieves to get your information.
What you need to do to protect your privacy?
The acts of social media as a window into your life, it is an extremely attractive way for companies, employers and even law enforcement to find out more about you. As such, the online tag should not be considered separate from the real world label. This was true in the early days of social media, and it is particularly true today. Here are some ways you can protect your information potentially preying eyes of an insurance company:
1. Do not overshare. Similar to how you can protect your information on social media in general, try to limit the amount of personal information you share on social media. This is especially true if you are filing an insurance claim, you want to make sure not to publish anything in relation to the incident. While it is tempting to tweet out your frustration on a rear end collision or publish photos or even a vague statement about how you feel, we do not know exactly if or how this information could be used. So you think you're just share a photo with your Facebook friends or Twitter followers, in reality, this position could be shared with your insurance company.
It is possible now or in the future, certain types of lifestyle information reflected in interest, messages or images can be used to influence premiums. Similar to the way previous social media errors involved employees employers misjudge, it is likely that the same dynamic could exist with insurance companies. Keep in mind that images and interests shown on your social media accounts are often the closest thing to a complete impression that a company will get you.
2. Be honest with your insurance company. There are cases reported where undisclosed information found during the expert survey on social media (photos, messages and friends) was seen as deliberately withholding information and treated as fraud . For example, in 2011, four women involved in an accident denied knowing each other, but have been identified as friends via their Facebook friends list. Although this incident was most likely a deliberate attempt to fraud, it still points to the fact that all information should be shared with your insurance company. If your social media profiles identify individuals such as your spouse or children, make sure they are the names of your spouse and children included in the insurance policies.
3. Disable geolocation. Be aware features such as geolocation, which accurately describe your location, unless prompted otherwise. Geolocation is used on almost all social media sites - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more - and can be used to determine your exact location at the time of an incident or an idea of the places you might frequent. While it's fun to let your friends that you're a regular at the coffee shop, it can not be something you want your insurance company know. Fortunately, geolocation can be easily disabled by visiting the Site Settings section of social media or by clicking on the icon location before taking a position.
4. Check your privacy settings. Even with the highest privacy settings on social media, you are still susceptible to some degree of data mining, the different tools to gather information in different ways - some of which can access your profile content by friends or friends of friends. However, make sure to check your privacy settings frequently, especially after a major change of the site. As you look through your settings, check that everything is set so that only your friends or followers can see your posts and photos.
5. Know what you're tagged. With the ability to tag friends, unfortunately only change your privacy settings is not enough. That's why you also want to make sure to monitor not only your own messages, but the messages friends and even friends of friends. If you are uncomfortable with the photo or post you are tagged, remove it, because it is possible that it can be used against you in the future.
Understanding how your information is used by large companies is one of the first steps to learn how to protect your privacy. Check out other ways to protect your privacy by visiting our blog protect against identity theft.