Giving Out Private Data for Discount in Insurance - NYTimes.com

Deep discounts for desirable data

"People who sign up will receive a free Fitbit monitor, which can be set to automatically upload activity levels to the insurer. The most active customers may earn a discount of up to 15 percent on their premiums, in addition to Amazon gift cards, half-price stays at Hyatt hotels and other perks.

John Hancock, a division of Canadian insurer Manulife Financial, says it hopes the program will help reinvigorate life insurance sales, which have stagnated industrywide for decades. Just 44 percent of households in the United States own individual policies, according to Limra, a trade group, a 50-year low. Any product that reminds consumers of their mortality is hard to get excited about, but industry analysts said that financially strained households, changing demographics and increasingly complex and expensive products have led to the decline in sales."

Giving Out Private Data for Discount in Insurance - NYTimes.com