Digitization means employing new technologies to meet individual customer needs. Subconsciously, people take the better fulfillment of their needs for granted. For example, GPS and smartphones allow all users of Google Maps to receive the necessary directions to arrive anywhere on earth. However, the privacy implications are not always welcome. It is debatable whether Google should be able to compile a movement profile of nearly every user.
The insurance industry has to face also this dilemma: On the one hand, customized services which rely heavily on individual information have become more important in the digital age. On the other hand, customers become more cautious about the usage of their data and demand more privacy. In this article we discuss this paradox and ideas how to handle it.
First published in I.VW Management-Information - St. Galler Trendmonitor für Risiko- und Finanzmärkte, 03/2016, S. 6 -8.