Survey highlights consumers' opposition to use of their social media data by banks and insurers

Credit reference agency Equifax said that 56% of consumers said they strongly disagree that information they post on social media should be used for such purposes. A further 20% of consumers said they tend to disagree with the concept too, it said.

Equifax's findings come from a survey it commissioned of 2,065 UK adults in June this year.

In the survey consumers were also asked if they would give financial companies their permission to access their social media data when they applied for a financial product, such as a loan, mortgage or credit card. Equifax said that 61% of respondents said they would be "very unlikely" to give such consent and a further 14% said they would be "fairly unlikely" to do so either.

More than half of the consumers surveyed (52%) said they would be angry if their social media information was used to assess their suitability for financial products and 28% said they would feel worried if that data processing took place.

Consumers believe that employment details, comments they make about work and spending habits and information disclosed about their academic history and where they live would be among the social media data financial companies would be most likely to use.

"With fraud on the rise, companies are turning to social media as a useful tool to verify an applicant’s identity," said Paul Birks, director of decision solutions at Equifax. "The number of contacts and length of time an online profile has been established is a useful way to help judge whether an application is genuine or from a fraudster. A well-established, active social media presence is very hard to fake."

"If companies go down this route they have to be transparent and educate consumers on how social media information could be used; consumers also need reassurance that, as with any personal data, privacy will be respected. Using social media information to assess an application could be particularly useful for people who don’t have a traditional borrowing history and therefore may have a ‘thin file’, such as a young person applying for their first loan. Companies have a moral and regulatory obligation to lend responsibly, and should investigate all the tools available to help ensure this happens," Birks said.