They also mention going through social media profiles for insurance data mining. I wonder what this practice can lead to, if taken to an extreme.
For example, if I apply for credit and I can't provide some/most of the information they ask in the application, my request will probably be denied. Suppose in not so distant future I apply for credit and I don't have any social media accounts. Will I get denied because the bank could not dig enough information about me that they expect to be able to find about their applicants?
I don't like the world this social media craze is making us into. Being concerned about your privacy has always been a rule, not an exception. But that is changing now.
Even if you can't provide some information on an application, they usually already have access to most or all of that information once you give them just a few facts so that they can uniquely identify you. And it takes surprisingly sparse facts to identify individuals for this purpose. They do not make you fill out the application for the information on that application per se; their sources of that info are more reliable.
In terms of risk mitigation, they are probably interested in comparing the extensive profile they have of you with what you put on the application. Significant discrepancies would be a reasonable red flag for risk, more so than having incomplete information.
For example, if I apply for credit and I can't provide some/most of the information they ask in the application, my request will probably be denied. Suppose in not so distant future I apply for credit and I don't have any social media accounts. Will I get denied because the bank could not dig enough information about me that they expect to be able to find about their applicants?
I don't like the world this social media craze is making us into. Being concerned about your privacy has always been a rule, not an exception. But that is changing now.