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Presumably they want to see if you are running Lyft.
And it wouldn't do anything for if you had two phones, right? This is pretty annoying as someone who still wants to use Uber. Enough that I would consider a competitor.
Props to whoever's responsible for itemized permissions requests on install/update--stories like these probably wouldn't exist without it.
I've said it before but I'll say it again: this is why you create a second throw-away Google account and use that to create a new profile on your phone dedicated to snoopy apps. Seriously: screw anyone that thinks harvesting my personal data is the cost I must pay for a cab ride.
What we desperately need is a UL for privacy. Just like UL tests electronics, we need a lab to test these apps for what data they access and how they make use of that data. Then assign a score so consumers can chose not to use services that request unnecessary permissions and misuse your data.
I've said it before but I'll say it again: this is why you create a second throw-away Google account and use that to create a new profile on your phone dedicated to snoopy apps. Seriously: screw anyone that thinks harvesting my personal data is the cost I must pay for a cab ride.
Just say no to an Uber install, even with a throwaway (TOS-violating) Google account.
With Marshmallow, you can just turn off or deny certain permissions. So for most people who really want to run the Uber app, the question is really whether it runs OK without all these permissions.
It's possible that these permissions are used in some obscure place in the app. With the new permissions system, you can progressively request permissions when you need them, so it's possible it will request these at some point in the future, but the app seems to run OK without them.
I also disabled access to contacts, which the app does request for some reason.