Insurance companies and web privacy

In class on Wednesday we discussed how insurance companies could use social networking or blogging sites to discover things about you. Apparently insurance companies are already looking at sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

In a lawsuit currently in New Jersey federal court, several families are suing Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The families are accusing Horizon of denying claims submitted for treating their children's anorexia and bulimia.

The judge in the case issued a court order requiring the families to turn over emails, diaries and any writings "shared with others, including entries on Web sites such as 'Facebook' or 'MySpace.'"

From the article:
Horizon claims that the children's online writings, as well as journal and diary entries, could shed light on the causes of the disorders, which determines the insurer's responsibility for payment. New Jersey law requires coverage of mental illness only if it is biologically based.

Horizon wants to use the kids' web postings to show that their eating disorders are caused by emotional problems and do not have a biological basis.


Imagine if insurance companies went back and read your blog postings and think about what they would be able to do with that information. They could see when you started complaining about symptoms of disease X. Even if you weren't diagnosed with disease X until after you signed up for insurance, couldn't the company use your own writings to prove that you had a pre-existing condition? As we discussed in class, insurance companies could look for people who post pictures of themselves drunk at parties or smoking and charge them higher premiums for being a "high risk".

Maybe you didn't post anything incriminating, but what about your friends? Could lifestyle factors that make you a higher risk be determined by analyzing who your friends are?