Double blogspam: three-paragraph summary of a five-paragraph summary of a six-paragraph Economist article.

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.

I've been using cash for certain purchases for several years now, because consumer-protection laws, regulations, and policies are far, far, far behind the tectonic shifts that have already occurred in the world of data mining.

Is this so unusual? I try to use my bank cards only at my bank's ATMs to keep profiling to a minimum. Sure, every now and then I end up at a register and discover that I am out of cash. Makes me feel uneasy every time. But it surprises me that this is on the front-page of a tech-savvy community - I thought we were all like that guy anyway.

Why is it not fair for an insurance company to charge you a higher premium if you are leading a lifestyle that statistically makes you more likely to have health problems?

This article is based on Economist's www.economist.com/node/21556263, reading that would show that the 'data mining exec' pays in cash because data mining software found a correlation between paying in cash and living longer.

Key point:

> he predicts

He's avoiding it because he thinks it's the natural progression of the product these companies offer, not because they do, it might never happen.

I have a very healthy diet, but I buy all of my produce at markets that only accept cash. I wonder what conclusions an insurer would draw from my supermarket purchases (mostly meat & dairy)?

I buy fruit and vegetables in bulk from a small local store and pick up beer and convenience food from nearby supermarket when I need it. It's crossed my mind more than once that the supermarket is the one that's most likely to sell my purchasing history, and within that data-set I'm a junk food addict. Which is why I sometimes throw some fruit into my basket, just to skew the data a little.

Not only to avoid data-snooping but a great way to stay on budget is to once a week buy a ~$1 item and get cash withdrawal at the register. Then use that cash for the week without going over because you cannot use your card again.

Here's another weakness in all this analysis: The (presumed) value of the data and analysis.

For years -- decades -- the medical professions have told us that "salt is bad". Now, we're finally learning that, specific and limited medical conditions or extreme diets aside, this is not so much the case. In fact, to little salt -- even when not "extremely" little -- may present significant problems.

Imagine insurers having had purchase/dietary information available during this "salt is bad" phase. How much harm might their resulting "persuasion" have caused? (As a simplistic argument/point.)

Taken to extreme, such controls are like "best practices". They can trend towards mono-cultures, which nature shows us tend to be fragile things.

Humans need to understand that our population has diversity, that this is a good thing, and that, wedged together in our cities, towns, countries, and onto this blue marble, to some extent we are "all in it together". Like it or not.

TL;DR: Some of these data analysis practices should spend more time worrying about their own garden.

P.S. I'm not against analysis, in general in life. I am against biased analysis warped by self-serving motivations.

Just a marketing stunt.

The last thing I need is this kind of kruft polluting my brain causing me to continuously second guess myself. I have a hard enough time deciding if a purchase is "business related" or not, now I have to ponder the future implications that every purchase I make will have on my permanent record? Sorry but I can't play this game without encumbering my mind with an amount of stress that completely outweighs any future benefit this bit of clever purchasing discretion would bring. I surrender to our big data overlords and beg for mercy on my consumption footprint. Maybe someday someone will be able to provide a technical defense to all of this nonsense: e.g. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/apple-...

I guess he 100% sure, that his insurance company do not data mine techdirt.com ;)

This is why I think something like Bitcoin is so vital. As physical cash is more and more being replaced by digital money the ability to have financial privacy is imperative. Think about all the data mining that would be possible if your every transaction ever was recorded in some database. The financial privacy possible with Bitcoin is one of its best qualities in my opinion.

The original article linked talks about some company buying an old lady's health insurance (they end up not buying because they datamine and find the lady is not unhealthy). That such a thing is possible blows my mind - a company placing an explicit bet on someone's death?

In Australia, divulging this sort of information is against he law.

Ehh, the miles which I get by using my credit card wind up being worth about 2%, so you'd have to convince me that each five-dollar burger raises my insurance premium by more than ten cents.

Honestly - the guy should apply his thoughtfulness and drive toward not eating so many hamburgers. There is a good reason why the insurance companies want to see that information.

I'm more or less young and healthy, and I think that my purchasing history would probably reflect that. But if they dug deeper, or took a look at my social networking profiles, they'd find out that I'm a climber. There are even picture of me on Facebook climbing ice without a rope.

I have heard that banks will be looking at our profiles in order to help determine our credit worthyness in the next few years; could medical insurers do the same?

All insurance companies are/will have to spend billions on data mining...

...says the guy who sells data mining.