Strap on the Fitbit: John Hancock to sell only interactive life insurance

ronjor · Sep 19, 2018

Suzanne Barlyn September 19, 2018

(Reuters) - John Hancock, one of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, will stop underwriting traditional life insurance and instead sell only interactive policies that track fitness and health data through wearable devices and smartphones, the company said on Wednesday.
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EASTER · Sep 19, 2018

Oh oh. Times they are a changing again. Sure is a new twist on things with that.

zapjb · Sep 19, 2018

I see JH point but still wow.

guest · Sep 21, 2018

Fitbit-based life insurance is a potential privacy and security nightmare
September 20, 2018
https://thenextweb.com/security/201...s-a-potential-privacy-and-security-nightmare/

Essentially, John Hancock is encouraging (but not mandating) that policyholders to share health and lifestyle data with the company. This data typically comes from wearable devices, like the Apple Watch or Fitbit.

In the case of John Hancock, it’s now exclusively selling policies that take advantage of activity and health data. Although customers can opt-out, they’re likely to miss out on certain discounts and offers.
Can you trust your wearable?
TNW spoke to Chris “PaperGhost” Boyd, Senior Threat Researcher at MalwareBytes, who raised concerns that wearable-based insurance policies could be undermined by bad faith or technical trickery.

"Wearables and smart devices don’t have a good reputation for product security; what’s to stop someone compromising the device and grabbing cheaper premiums at the expense of others? Worse, someone compromising your own device without your knowledge, causing numerous headaches as a result – especially if the data used is eventually used for a variety of services."
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ronjor · Apr 14, 2019

A.I. Is Changing Insurance

By Sarah Jeong April 10, 2019
Some technologies are better left in the laboratory.
Consumers buy insurance from companies to protect against possible losses. But this contractual relationship is increasingly asymmetrical. The insurance companies once relied on a mix of self-reported information, public records and credit scores to calculate risk and assess how much to charge. But thanks to advances in technology, the capacity to collect, store and analyze information is greater than ever before.
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Strap on the Fitbit: John Hancock to sell only interactive life insurance

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