A UK auto insurer is seeking to get quick insights into your personality via snapshots of Facebook posts that would, they say, make people eligible for discounts, or cause them to get higher rates. As the Guardian is reporting, Admiral Insurance has launched something called firstcarquote which allows for potentially lower premiums for new drivers based on a brief questionnaire, and the nature and tone of what they've said on Facebook the last six months. Naturally, the practice is raising alarm bells among privacy activists and could result in pushback from Facebook itself.

According to the Admiral site, "New drivers are often quoted much higher insurance premiums as they have little driving history, zero No Claims Bonus and are viewed as 'high risk'. But we want to help make sure safe drivers aren't penalised and get the best price possible."

To do that, as CNet explains, Admiral is looking at words that potential customers use in their posts, and even frequent use of exclamation marks, as evidence that someone might be a high-risk or impulsive driver. Conversely, shorter sentences and making concrete plans with friends, they believe, indicates someone is a lower risk for a car accident.

This is of course somewhat insane just on the surface, and as the Guardian adds, "the frequent use of 'always' or 'never' rather than 'maybe' - will count against them."

For now, though they're not ruling it out for later, Admiral is not using the information to raise anyone's premiums, but is only using this methodology for offering possible discounts. To be clear, they are only looking at textual and event posts, and not photos, to decide discounts.

The privacy advocacy org Open Rights Group is quick to point out that Facebook's own Platform Policy, section 3.15, forbids the use of such data when it comes to approving loan applications or setting interest rates, and they argue the same should be true of insurance.

Says the groups executive director Jim Killock, "Such intrusive practices could see decisions being made against certain groups based on biases about race, gender, religion or sexuality — or because their posts in some way mark them as unconventional. Ultimately, this could change how people use social media, encouraging self-censorship in anticipation of future decisions." And he points out that there's a financial and class implication to practices like this, too. "Young people may feel pushed into such schemes because of financial constraints. The right to keep things private shouldn't be the preserve of those who can afford it," Killock adds.

The new program from Admiral is not alone in the insurance world, either, when it comes to pushes into the world of social media and previously private data when it comes to potentially setting premiums. Privacy advocates were immediately nervous after Apple launched its Health app along with the Apple Watch, and in a perfectly logical though potentially privacy-violating move, insurance companies like Aetna and Vitality are now subsidizing Apple Watches for corporate customers and/or selling them directly and basing the final price on how much exercise the customer actually does. In the Aetna deal, Apple actively participated in the partnership and CEO Tim Cook told Mashable in September, "Aetna’s new initiatives will be a powerful force toward creating better customer experiences in health care."

The next step, unless Apple does anything about it, will of course be health insurers offering discounted premiums if customers give them access to their Watch data and thus their every move — and charging more to people who are up taking selfies at the club every weekend at 4 a.m.

Previously: Facebook Allows Advertisers To Exclude Users Based On Their Race — Er, 'Ethnic Affinity'