How Allstate is helping consumers protect data

I have no idea how many internet sites I am registered with. I also have no idea how each can use my data. What did I actually agree to when I clicked “I Agree?” If I did know, I’m not sure what to do about the sites I want to leave.

I have been intrigued by the opportunity for insurers to protect individuals’ personal data since my 2017 blog post My Insurer Protects My Data. That’s why the Allstate announcement of Digital Footprint at the Consumer Electronics Show caught my attention. The service is designed to identify, secure, and control personal data. (A shout out here to Blake Morgan, who wrote a great piece on her experience with identity theft and interviewed Allstate CEO Tom Wilson at CES.)

Tim Boyle/Bloomberg

Jason Park, the Allstate initiative leader, was kind enough to provide me with some details this week. The proposition will launch later this year around three value propositions:

1. Visibility: shows me which sites I have agreed can access my data.
2. Security: gives me options to change my relationship with individual sites (unregister, change my membership status, etc.).
3. Control: provides proactive measures to avoid sharing my information in risky ways / with risky sites.

Kudos to Allstate for expanding the boundaries of personal risk management, especially in an area so relevant to our transition to a digital world. This is an example of how insurers find growth opportunities in markets that are increasingly a race to the price bottom, dominated by annual advertising budgets that dwarf the total revenue of most insurers.

Celent’s annual Insurance CIO Survey repeatedly shows that growth is the #1 business goal for insurers. It will be exciting to see initiatives like Digital Footprint in the market to respond to both consumer and insurer needs.

This blog entry has been reprinted with permission from Celent.