IBM: Personal information posted on social media sites seen by major firms

 

Major firms are watching your usage ... Be wary about the personal information you post on social media sites. Source: News Limited

 

THE personal information Australians post on social media sites could determine how insurers deal with claims and potentially result in customer knock-backs.   

IBM data expert Brenda Dietrich, from the US, said social media users should take caution when posting information online because big companies are watching them.

“It does border on creepy,’’ she said.

“There may be things written on one’s Facebook page that would be of interest when a person files a claim.

“Particularly with things like home insurance and car insurance (claims), because you can get a sense of the person’s lifestyle which you wouldn’t have otherwise.

“It does get a little “big brotherish” at times but I think it can be done responsibly.”

Speaking at the annual Financial Services Council Life Insurance Conference in Sydney, Ms Dietrich urged people to think carefully about what they putting on their Facebook and social media pages including Twitter and LinkedIn sites.

She said there was an amazing capability to trace information and even if it was deleted it would always exist somewhere in cyber space.

“I always encourage people to think carefully about what they put on any public space because it’s there forever,’’ Ms Dietrich.

“Even if you delete it it’s in someone’s archive forever, digital data doesn’t go away and you don’t know how many copies of it have been made.”

It remains unclear whether Australian insurers do currently examine customers’ social media sites.
But the Financial Services Council’s chief executive officer John Brogden said he expected it to become more commonplace in Australia in the near future.

“If people are online and making statements that are at odds with their insurance application or claim then insurance companies have every right to use that information,’’ he said.

“I think there’s every chance (collecting data from social media sites) will become more prominent and they (insurers) use it in anti-fraud cases.

“So people should be careful.”

He said fraudulent claims were not uncommon.

Bravura Solutions’ managing director Roland Slee said customers should be well aware businesses were using a person’s online presence to determine how they deal with them.

“People are prepared to be far more open than was ever anticipated and to make information available about their ambitions and desires,’’ he said.

“There’s a very power social trend and individuals are better informed than they ever were before.”

news.com.au 04 Apr 2014

This should be common knowlege to all 'established' internet users.