Data fears unfounded in a social media world

A fear of telematics owing to data protection and privacy issues is outdated in a world where people voluntarily share so much information online.

That was the view of Lisa McPherson, managing director of Fresh Insurance Group, who told delegates that the "time is right for people to accept sharing their data", given that the amount of information freely available on social media sites is more than insurers could have dreamed of obtaining previously.

Stephen Lathrope, managing director of insurance at SSP, agreed that data protection concerns are overstated.

"Data collected in the vehicles and used by the insurance companies is just another set of information. The industry needs to find ways of being clear on how that data will and won't be used," he explained.

"But as long as we make it clear to the customers where the data will be used and, as long as we can protect that data, whether it's on the vehicle, or in the insurer's or the third-party's office, then I don't think there's more to worry about in telematics than there is in other areas of insurance, like health insurance, that use sensitive data."

One delegate expressed concerns that major motor manufacturers could themselves become insurers if they start to retain the data collected by their vehicles.

But, speaking from the floor, Andrew Goldby, director of motor pricing and underwriting at Direct Line Group, rejected the idea.

"Why would you? If you suddenly had a valuable source of data that you were collecting from all your vehicles, you could sell that information to someone who valued it," he said.

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