A couple months ago, National Underwriter Life & Health Magazine published an issue focused on technology. Some of the articles got me thinking about the dynamic we in the benefits world face between the use of technology in our business and personal privacy. A couple of the trends noted were the use of big data and wearable technology as a means of underwriting insurance products. 

This information got me thinking about whether these trends represent a great marketing opportunity or an invasion of privacy. I wrote a list of things that are available for most people if big data principles are used to aggregate information.

Some of those things included:

  • Age and gender

  • Where we live and whether we own a home or rent

  • Who insures our residence and the limits on coverage

  • Our driving record

  • Our level of exercise (wearable tech)

  • What medications we take (pharmacy scan)

  • What health related items we look up online

  • Where we work and our work history (LinkedIn)

  • Our credit rating and credit limits and whether we ever went bankrupt

  • Whether we have a criminal record

  • Our hobbies and interests (Facebook, tumblr, Pinterest, etc.)

  • What we are thinking about buying (Amazon searches, iTunes store, Google, etc.)

  • Who our friends are in personal and business lives (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

  • Whether we recently looked for a new job

  • Where we travel, who we travel with and whether we are planning a trip

  • The causes we support

  • Everything we have published or posted

  • What we read, the movies we watch and our favorite television shows

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