Thanks to a supercomputer owned by data analytics company LexisNexis, your insurance company can find information on just about every aspect of your life, allowing them to predict, assess, and manage the risk involved in offering you services. The program can also use the information in order to get you to increase your coverage, market new products to you, or raise your premium or drop your coverage if it finds that you have done something wrong. The program can find out anything, from a new baby to a DUI conviction. Using utility bills, it can even tell when you moved into your home, when you moved out, and whether your house is vacant.
Insurance companies hire LexisNexis to collect information on customers from more than 45 billion public records as well as information provided by affiliated businesses. This information is then used as a tool in “predictive analytics,” a method of determining a person’s needs, wants, and even vulnerabilities based on different aspects of their life. This information is then passed onto insurers, who can then contact their policyholders and ask them specific questions that they already know the answer to.
While many consumers may find this disturbing, LexisNexis contends that there is nothing wrong with this method of data collection. Rather than an invasion of privacy, it is seen as a way to provide helpful service.
LexisNexis is not the only company using this tactic. Credit reporting agencies like TransUnion are also trying to gain an edge in the realm of supercomputing, a reminder that it is extremely important to check your credit report for errors.
Anonymity may be a thing of the past.
Source: This supercomputer is a supersleuth for insurers.
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