Facebook vs Admiral: Is social network right to stop insurer's discount offer to users who let it analyse postings?

Admiral's plan manages to look both sinister and silly but it's a bit rich for Facebook to be casting itself in the role of privacy policeman

Admiral wants to look at social media posts you have made in the past 6 months but may look at more (Reuters)

Has anyone thought of putting up a Homer Simpson award for corporate craziness? If they have, can I nominate car insurer Admiral?

The company has managed to get egg all over its face and egg all over its wheels after coming up with something called firstcarquote, which offers a discount to young and inexperienced drivers if they let the its algorithm’s loose in their Facebook accounts.

Unfortunately, it appears that nobody at Admiral thought to clear the plan with Facebook, which, sensing an easy PR win by portraying itself as the guardian of its users privacy, said no way. Oops.

“Protecting the privacy of the people on Facebook is of utmost importance to us,” a spokesman piously declared. That ought to give its critics a good laugh.

Admiral’s wheeze was supposed to work by way of a programme that would whizz around people’s Facebook accounts, looking at their postings and analysing their likes. People who tick the right boxes, or should that be click the right boxes, get a discount

Given the prices paid for car insurance by young drivers, that could come in handy. The statistics show that they cause more accidents than almost any other demographic. So the cost of cover is sky high.

It’s unfortunate, because most young and inexperienced motorists do their best to drive safely. Most of them don’t cause accidents and many of them are better and more considerate drivers than their parents who might have 30 years or more experience on the roads.

It isn’t generally young people that honk their horns when I don’t jump onto roundabouts because, having been disabled by a nasty cycling accident, I’m careful to look out for others using two wheels.

Unfortunately, without a driving history it doesn’t matter how cautious and sensible a young driver is. They get hammered as a result of those that aren’t. The sensible pay for the sins of the reckless.

Attempting to address that issue is laudable. It’s the method that Admiral has come up with that is problematic. Firstcarquote feels both sinister and silly at the same time, like one of those clowns that have been causing such a fuss recently.

There are already ways to cut the cost of insurance if you’re young and inexperienced but are still a sensible driver. You can take an advanced driving test. You can sign up to one of those schemes that allows an insurer to monitor your driving and give you a discount if you prove you do it safely. The devices and apps they use can also seem a bit big brother, but they make a lot more sense than having an algorithm analyse the groups you click “like” on.

Admiral’s scheme is basically bonkers. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want an insurer to have access to so many details about their personal lives, even if it would take a couple of hundred quid off their premiums.

But here’s the thing. We already allow Facebook to have access to all those details. Its ad customers use them to sell us stuff. It tracks the websites we visit and uses the information gleaned to tailor ads. Been browsing on Amazon recently? Noticed how the things you’ve been looking at suddenly appear on Facebook?

Is firstcarquote really any more sinister than Facebook itself?

Personally, I wouldn’t give an insurer any more details than are absolutely necessary. I certainly wouldn't allow one to have access to the admittedly slightly worrying databank I've allowed Facebook to have on James Moore.

The way companies more generally use the internet to spy on us is disturbing. KGB capitalism has developed at such a frightening speed that regulators and lawmakers have been left miles behind the curve. Too many simply shrug their shoulders and say “well what’re you going to do?” when faced with the challenge it poses. They need to get a grip.

That said, while I would strongly urge you not to use firstcarquote, I’m not sure Facebook should be taking it upon itself to stop you going ahead should you choose to ignore that advice.