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Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

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Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#291

Post by newman314 »

bastawhiz wrote: post #276
newman314 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, why isn't there an option to delete previous trip data? If Uber was really serious about user privacy, this would be a no brainer feature to offer.

It's not just your trip data, it's also your driver's. It would be wrong to allow you to delete the record of the trip. It's also the case that the record of your trip isn't just data. It's the receipt for an actual thing that happened. A transaction between three or more parties takes place. That data needs to be preserved for any number of the reasons, including government compliance. Even just handling credit card…

I don't buy that at all. Location data certainly is not recorded for (most) taxi rides today.

A receipt is the piece of paper or electronic record showing how much your trip cost.

Show me an example of someone using trip data as a primary form for handling CC dispute. Please also back up your statement that trip data has to be kept forever for government compliance.

Lastly, what if my driver and I both want to delete trip data? Per your argument, is there an existing option to delete trip data then? I didn't think so.

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#292

Post by mfrommil »

employee8000 wrote: post #234
yladiz wrote: post #34

I saw this earlier and had hopes that the update would just let me choose "While Using" in the app settings, like some other apps allow you even if they request access even while not using the app, but the settings only allow for "Always" or "Never" on iPhone. However, you can use Uber without allowing GPS, so it's not all or nothing. I'm a little disturbed that they need any information after I use Uber though. They…

Uber employee here. We were told the reason to track up to 5 mins after the trip is for fraud, ex if a driver doesn't end the trip when she is supposed to. and to figure out where the pick up spots for each address are. A large building may have multiple points where people get picked up or dropped off and knowing those points would be very useful for the drivers and riders. And just as a side note, take it with a fe…

Calling bs on "uber as a company is very ethical" and "nothing nefarious is going on":

Spying on a journalist: http://www.businessinsider.com/ubers-new-york-manager-invest...

Tracking celebrities and sharing publicly: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/10/03/god-view-...

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#294

Post by jayajay »

"Uber collects your location data from the time of trip request through five minutes after the trip ends, including when the app is in the background" -- Uber.

Is this legally gray, or am I paranoid?

Not-scary Interpretation 1: Uber collects location data from t_0 to t_1 regardless of whether or not the app is in the background.

Scary Interpretation 2: Uber collects location data from t_0 to t_1 and when the app is in the background.

I'm surprised they didn't start doing this 4 years ago.

Location data is really fucking good data to have on people, which is why I would rather not be giving it away willynilly. Additionally, Uber's service is one of the few services where getting this data can be justified and seems less creepy.

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#296

Post by r0m4n0 »

employee8000 wrote: post #234
yladiz wrote: post #34

I saw this earlier and had hopes that the update would just let me choose "While Using" in the app settings, like some other apps allow you even if they request access even while not using the app, but the settings only allow for "Always" or "Never" on iPhone. However, you can use Uber without allowing GPS, so it's not all or nothing. I'm a little disturbed that they need any information after I use Uber though. They…

Uber employee here. We were told the reason to track up to 5 mins after the trip is for fraud, ex if a driver doesn't end the trip when she is supposed to. and to figure out where the pick up spots for each address are. A large building may have multiple points where people get picked up or dropped off and knowing those points would be very useful for the drivers and riders. And just as a side note, take it with a fe…

I think if you have to explain yourself you have already lost. I always use Uber but uninstalled it 2 seconds after I discovered I couldn't change the location settings to my liking. Literally typing this from a Lyft haha

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#297

Post by ryhamz »

vuyani wrote: post #274
rosstex wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what if the customer swipes early?

thats an easy thing to validate. If the vehicle is still moving, or if the driver also hasnt confirmed the trip has ended you can work it out.

"easy"

Proceeds to introduce multiple points of failure.

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#299

Post by intended »

xapata wrote: post #213
wallace_f wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point, however just because the phone company/NSA has this information, IMHO that doesn't make unnecessarily intrusive apps OK with me.

To each his own. In my view, the cat's out of the bag, so I might as well get a better product out of it.

by analogy: When your house is on fire, your normal response shouldnt be "well, lets burn the car too."

The usual response is to stop the fire.

Re: Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off

#300

Post by AliAdams »

kbart wrote: post #275
employee8000 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber employee here. We were told the reason to track up to 5 mins after the trip is for fraud, ex if a driver doesn't end the trip when she is supposed to. and to figure out where the pick up spots for each address are. A large building may have multiple points where people get picked up or dropped off and knowing those points would be very useful for the drivers and riders. And just as a side note, take it with a fe…

"Uber as a company is very ethical and takes the responsibility that we are entrusted with very seriously." Probably every company has said that, yet we know how that usually turns out sooner rather than later (I'm looking at you, WhatsApp). "So I know it's not easy to believe, and it's easy for me to say since I work here, but nothing nefarious is going on. If there was, we the engineers would be against it complete…

I thought the drop-off points for large buildings could be a very reasonable justification for extending the tracking window for a few minutes on either side of the drive.

I understand that this could fall into 'data necessary to provide a better service' as opposed to simply providing the service as-is, but it seems like drop-off point locations are quite fundamental.

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