In the future, your selfies could determine whether you get life insurance and how much...

[midian182]

Some consider selfies to be a narcissistic product of today’s social media-obsessed society, but one day those photos could be used for something important, like determining whether people qualify for life insurance.

USA Today reports that several life insurance companies are testing technology called Chronos from Lapetus Solutions Inc. It uses facial analysis and other data to estimate the life expectancy of the selfie’s subject, which is then used to decide policy approvals and pricing.

"Your face is something you wear all your life, and it tells a very unique story about you," says Karl Ricanek Jr., co-founder and chief data scientist at Lapetus, which is based in Wilmington, N.C.

The system can check factors such as body mass index, wrinkles, physiological age (as in how old you look), and whether you’re aging faster or slower than your actual age. Lapetus says Chronos could allow customers to buy life insurance online in as little as 10 minutes, just by sending a selfie and without requiring a medical exam.

Chronos would need to get regulatory approval from states to use it. Ricanek notes that while it can detect makeup, it can’t detect plastic surgery, which could be a problem for a system that determines how good or bad you look for your age.

Ricanek said Lapetus’ market research showed people were willing to share their selfies with insurers if it meant a quicker and easier application process and no medical. However, the main concern was that the technology might get its predictions completely wrong.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/69203-future-selfies-could-determine-whether-you-get-life.html

 

[MoeJoe]

Oh wow

 

[MonsterZero]

This is about as accurate as www.deathclock.com

 

[davislane1]

Considering how easily it is to add or subtract a decade using FR, I can't see any upside to this. It's just a clever way to save costs for the insurers.

If they really wanted to get a good idea of life expectancy, they'd demand a physical and a cardiovascular test.

 

[Uncle Al]

When you look at how giant a swing the insurance industry has taken over the past 50 years, people certainly have a right to be outraged. With states 'REQUIRING" auto insurance and most failing to regulate the industry; insurance companies not being required to pay out life insurance policies if they are not notified, many companies defaulting on other policies, they need serious regulation and compliance requirements. If these companies are allowed to continue unchecked, the government then needs to get out of the business, remove all insurance requirements and let the market seek and find it's own balance. TOO much government regulation is bad, but allowing an industry to lie, cheat and steal peoples money is simply intolerable, especially when our schools fail to educate the youth on the subject.

 

[mbrowne5061]

When you look at how giant a swing the insurance industry has taken over the past 50 years, people certainly have a right to be outraged. With states 'REQUIRING" auto insurance and most failing to regulate the industry; insurance companies not being required to pay out life insurance policies if they are not notified, many companies defaulting on other policies, they need serious regulation and compliance requirements. If these companies are allowed to continue unchecked, the government then needs to get out of the business, remove all insurance requirements and let the market seek and find it's own balance. TOO much government regulation is bad, but allowing an industry to lie, cheat and steal peoples money is simply intolerable, especially when our schools fail to educate the youth on the subject.

That's why I liked the 'govt. option' that was in the very early drafts of the ACA: a public health insurance plan, that offered basic checkups and preventive care at an affordable price, with no restrictions on age or income. Let the govt. provide a market 'baseline' or floor, then let the market adjust around that with minimal regulation (maybe 'plain english' summaries of what a plan does and does not cover, and that's it)..

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"just by sending a selfie and without requiring a medical exam".
If this was in effect right now and I sent my insurance company a selfie, they would in return send around an ambulance.

 

[Stingy McDuck]

I guess this will affect those people who take stupid selfies in dangerous situations.

 

[lipe123]

Have these people even heard of this thing called makeup, how would that ever work properly?