Monday, September 24, 2012

Who do you trust with your Big Data?

OK, I admit it..... I think Big Data is pretty sexy (But then I find anything remotely sexy if I don't fully understand it and want to. Its why I married a woman far more intelligent than me!). And if you're also a regular reader of this blog, you'll have noticed that I've recently been going on about the use of data in the motor insurer and aggregator market.

For me, the challenge with collecting vast amounts of data on each individual person's activity, such as driving speed and their late night policy breaking trip to the nearest supermarket, isn't about how an insurance company is going to calculate exactly how much extra to charge you for running out after midnight for those cigarettes, nappies, etc. but how you are going to get hold of that data when you decide to change suppliers. Because surely if you find it difficulty to move your own data away from one company who stores your data, they have an advantage over you?

So surely the answer is to not put your data with any one specific insurance company, as they could well have the advantage mentioned above. But to put your data in the hands of an intermediary service.

But again, you have the issue of who you trust to hold this data on your behalf. Perhaps a company with the infrastructure to easily hold your data securely, who can have access to a complex search service to be able to find trends in big data and who understands the online insurance aggregation market?

Which company could provide such a service? I must Google it......

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