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🔍 '''Data minimization''' is a privacy principle — codified in regulations such as the EU's [[Definition:General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | GDPR]] and increasingly reflected in U.S. state privacy laws — that requires insurers to collect, process, and retain only the personal data strictly necessary for a defined purpose. For an industry built on information, this creates a productive tension: [[Definition:Underwriting | underwriters]] and [[Definition:Actuarial | actuaries]] naturally want richer datasets to improve [[Definition:Risk selection | risk selection]] and [[Definition:Pricing | pricing]], yet privacy law demands that each data element be justified by a legitimate business or legal need.

⚙️ Implementing data minimization within an insurance organization involves reviewing every data-collection touchpoint — [[Definition:Application | application]] forms, [[Definition:Claims | claims]] intake workflows, [[Definition:Telematics | telematics]] programs, third-party data enrichment feeds — and eliminating fields that do not serve a documented purpose. A [[Definition:Motor insurance | motor insurer]] using telematics, for instance, might capture GPS coordinates to calculate mileage but must decide whether storing granular location histories is proportionate to its [[Definition:Pricing | pricing]] need or whether aggregated distance summaries suffice. [[Definition:Data protection impact assessment (DPIA) | Data protection impact assessments]] often surface these decisions, and a [[Definition:Data protection officer (DPO) | data protection officer]] typically guides the balance between analytical ambition and compliance.

🛡️ Beyond regulatory obligation, data minimization reduces an insurer's attack surface. Every unnecessary record in a database is a liability in the event of a [[Definition:Data breach | data breach]] — both in terms of notification costs under [[Definition:Cyber insurance | cyber]] incident-response requirements and in the reputational damage that follows. Carriers that embed minimization principles into system design from the outset — sometimes called "privacy by design" — find it far easier to comply with evolving regulations, respond to [[Definition:Data subject access request (DSAR) | data subject access requests]], and maintain [[Definition:Policyholder | policyholder]] trust in an era of heightened data sensitivity.

'''Related concepts:'''
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Definition:General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)]]
* [[Definition:Data protection impact assessment (DPIA)]]
* [[Definition:Data protection officer (DPO)]]
* [[Definition:Data protection]]
* [[Definition:Privacy by design]]
* [[Definition:Data breach]]
{{Div col end}}

Definition:Data minimization - Revision history

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