Insurtech Australia warns the corporate regulator’s plan to publish dashboards containing company-level breach and complaints data could discourage start-ups from seeking to innovate with products, technologies and business models.

The granular data will not advance the objectives of enhanced accountability and transparency for customers, IA says in a submission to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

ASIC began consultation last month on plans to publish two dashboards detailing reportable breaches and internal dispute resolution in the second half of this year.

IA says the proposed approach “is more likely to damage public trust and confidence and discourage innovation in the sector”.

CEO Simone Dossetor said: “An excessive public focus on individual incidents will not address underlying operational and conduct issues when they arise but will further promote the regulatory ‘blame culture’, which will drive innovation away from our shores.”

Supplied data is unlikely to be consistent enough for benchmarking across licences or issues, given the variety of businesses in the sector and the subjectivity of reporting approaches, IA says.

“We believe there is a high risk of misinterpretation, with the proposed approach of providing explanatory notes or statements unlikely to be effective in addressing this risk.”

Publication could also lead to licensees intentionally managing to a target level of breaches that is “not too many and not too few”, IA warns.