Following the news that Facebook forces Admiral to pull plans to price car insurance based on posts, Lee Munson, security researcher at Comparitech.com says:
“Facebook – so often lamented when it comes to the privacy of its own users – has come to the rescue of young British car drivers it seems.
“When insurance firm Admiral decided snooping on prospective new customers’ social feeds was a good way of tailoring quotes for new drivers, Zuckerberg’s company said ‘no dice’ on the grounds that it was a gross invasion of its users’ privacy. Too right too!
“While personalised quotes are a good thing for those otherwise painted with a brush tarnished by a minority of speed merchants and drunken maniacs, the social activities of many teens could easily give the mistaken impression that they fit one or both stereotypes to the tee - even though most sensible adults know youngsters’ online comments are often fabricated or embellished for the purposes of looking ‘cool’.
“Not only that, the online invasiveness exhibited by some companies is just downright creepy, isn’t it? Whatever next? Vetting of potential employees against their tweets and posts!?