Facebook says Admiral’s plans to base car insurance premiums on posts will NOT happen
Admiral had planned to launch premiums for new drivers based on their Facebook posts - but the social media network says it will never let firms access profiles to check eligibility
ADMIRAL has pulled it plans to spy on customers' social media accounts to set car insurance prices after Facebook stopped it.
Last night the insurer claimed it would analyse posts from the social media accounts of first time drivers and that it could save customers up to £350 a year.
However, Facebook today said its "clear guidelines" prevent information being taken from the social network to assess eligibility.
The insurance firm today said that it still plans to launch the firstcarquote scheme but that it will have "reduced functionality".
Facebook has said that instead of spying on posts customers will answer questions set by the insurer in order to get a car cover quote.
A spokesperson from the social network said: "We have clear guidelines that prevent information being obtained from Facebook from being used to make decisions about eligibility.
"We have made sure anyone using this app is protected by our guidelines and that no Facebook user data is used to assess their eligibility. Facebook accounts will only be used for login and verification purposes."
"Our understanding is that Admiral will then ask users who sign up to answer questions which will be used to assess their eligibility.”
Yesterday, the insurer said that it would analyse accounts to look for personality traits linked to safe driving.
It said that people with overconfident posts - such as use of exclamation marks and frequent use of the worlds "always", "never" or "maybe" - may be marked down.
A spokesperson from Admiral said: "Admiral does not have access to customers’ Facebook data and does not hold social media data to set prices for its customers.
"Following discussions with Facebook the product is launching with reduced functionality, allowing first time drivers to login using Facebook and share some information to secure a faster, simpler and discounted quote."