Facebook blocks Admiral from using profiles to price car insurance. But what of Facebook's privacy credentials?

For one in seven people alive today, Facebook is their window on the world. More than one billion of them log onto the social network on their mobiles each and every day.

Facebook knows their hopes, dreams, secrets and fears. It knows who their friends and family are and what they look like. It knows what interests them and who they are likely to vote for.

Armed with this vast amount of information about the real-time behaviours, likes and dislikes of users, Facebook will have a very good picture of personality and attitude towards risk. That insight will become increasingly valuable, as we shall see.

This week, the insurer Admiral announced plans to use Facebook to help set car insurance premiums for new drivers via an app, which would read social media posts. It said: ‘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”.