Insurance companies rank poorly on privacy

As children, we’re told not to talk to strangers or accept rides from anyone we don’t know – to protect us from being taken. As adults today, we’re told not to give out our computer passwords to strangers, we’re told we should tear up or shred credit card offers we receive (by the truckload, it seems) in the mail, and we’re told to guard our Social Security Number with great diligence – to protect our identities from being stolen.

It seems people are getting the message, but the insurance industry – at least by one account – needs to improve its online protections. The Customer Respect Group, a firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers, evaluated 50 insurance Web sites for its fourth quarter survey, and the insurance industry’s score actually went down a bit, to 5.1 on a 10-point scale. A score of 5.0 or lower illustrates a site does not adequately respect the online user.