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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

#261

Post by rm999 »

bastawhiz wrote: post #198
rm999 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uber's infrastructure is completely incapable of handling that volume of data, The data volume isn't very big. Let's assume Uber records locations for 20 million users and pings each user every 5 minutes. We're talking about 20 million users * 12 events per hour * 24 hours * 16 bytes (my generous assumption of how much it would cost to store a user id, timestamp, and precise long/lat data) = ~100 GB a day or 3 TB a…

Being a bug, though, it would record with the fidelity of the Uber app. Which is a lot more than every five minutes.

It's not a bug I'm concerned about, it's this part of the privacy policy "if you permit the Uber app to access location services through the permission system used by your mobile operating system (“platform”), we may also collect the precise location of your device when the app is running in the foreground or background"

What I'm getting at is that it's pretty straightforward and easy for Uber to maintain a database of every user's locations at all times, even if they aren't active users. This kind of data is valuable. Assuming Uber isn't already doing it, all it takes is one mid-level product manager to initiate a small project to kickstart it.

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

#262

Post by dav43 »

ipqk wrote: post #88
dav43 wrote: post #7

This is the perfect example of development for the sake of development. The new user experience is terrible and provides the user with zero extra benefits. I seriously can't see how a product manager signs off on these updates.

I live in NYC with a lot of one-way streets, including my home. I actually use two different addresses for my home depending on whether I'm being picked-up or dropped-off. Otherwise, when being dropped off, Uber has sent me on some really odd detours just to get me exactly in front of my house. Instead, I'd rather get dropped off at a corner and walk 200 feet. In theory, by collecting the location data 5 minutes afte…

But why wouldn't you just speak to the driver?

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

#263

Post by nikcub »

re: Uber's reasoning one thing to keep in mind: this is the last opt-in user privacy hurdle for Uber.

From here, any change Uber or an acquirer make doesn't alert or ask users. always-on location tracking is ring0 of personal privacy. They can remove that 5 minute monitoring window any time with an app update.

Question isn't 'do I trust what Uber say to justify this change', but 'will I trust Uber to protect my privacy and security forever'

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

#264

Post by a3_nm »

StavrosK wrote: post #70
amluto wrote: post #26

I really wish that both Android and iOS had an option to outright prevent an app from doing anything in the background. No sensors, no location, no push notifications, no network access, no CPU time, URL protocols, no nothing. If I don't click the little app icon, the app shouldn't run, full stop.

You can install Greenify to do exactly this. It helped me kill some pernicious apps that I needed once in a while but that would run all the time, killing my battery (I'm looking at you, Mi Fit). The only annoying and inexplicable thing is that some apps run their own background process for push notifications, rather than using GCM, so pushes stop coming in if you kill those.

> The only annoying and inexplicable thing is that some apps run their own background process for push notifications, rather than using GCM, so pushes stop coming in if you kill those.

There are valid reasons for this, e.g., if you want your app to work on Android devices without the proprietary Google applications.

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

#265

Post by codedokode »

electic wrote: post #100

There is something very powerful you can do: 1. Stop using uber. Delete it. There is Lyft and Juno (in select markets). 2. Tell your friends about the dangers of using Uber. You can make a profound change by voting with your pocket book. Lastly, believe it or not, a lot of your friends look to you for tech advice. Be vocal.

Tomorrow Uber competitors will start tracking people location too. One or several people that stopped using the app because of this doesn't mean anything because there are millions who continue to use it anyway.

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

#266

Post by uiuiuop »

bigiain wrote: post #73
synicalx wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I accept it because I don't really care if Uber knows where I am for a couple of minutes after they drop me off. Not everyone's cup of tea, but if you don't like it there's nothing stopping you from uninstalling the app.

Any you trust them (as a company) that they'll "only track you for 5 minutes after using the app", and you trust each of their staff members will have controlled/secured/audited access to only the 5 minutes location data after a trip, and you trust them to never deploy a production bug in their tracking code, and you trust every law enforcement or business partner request for that data including gag-order-backed-NSLs…

What I find funny are the people that accept it when it's a Western company doing it, but then freak out with it's a Chinese company doing it (especially when they don't even live in China).

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

#267

Post by a3_nm »

Steeeve wrote: post #252
electic wrote: post #100

There is something very powerful you can do: 1. Stop using uber. Delete it. There is Lyft and Juno (in select markets). 2. Tell your friends about the dangers of using Uber. You can make a profound change by voting with your pocket book. Lastly, believe it or not, a lot of your friends look to you for tech advice. Be vocal.

Surprise. If you have an AT&T Samsung phone you can't uninstall it. The best you can do is go into Application Settings and Disable it. And then make sure you answer the two confirmation dialogs correctly for it to actually get disabled. And guess what? It's already running. Even if you haven't used the app any time recently.

> Surprise. If you have an AT&T Samsung phone you can't uninstall it.

Can't you flash the ROM to reinstall Android (e.g., Cyanogen) without any built-ins of this kind?

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

#268

Post by temp »

employee8000 wrote: post #247
dimino wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but Uber as a company is very ethical You've got to understand how directly this clashes with the media coverage re: driver rights.

Yes and as an employee looking from the inside out, I see how negative the press is, and before I joined Uber I was biased by the media coverage as well. But everything I've seen on the inside directly goes against the media coverage I've seen. Take it with a grain of salt obviously.

They might be ethical towards you. They're not ethical towards me, the person being driven, nor towards the Uber driver who's driving me.

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

#269

Post by plesner »

employee8000 wrote: post #247
dimino wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but Uber as a company is very ethical You've got to understand how directly this clashes with the media coverage re: driver rights.

Yes and as an employee looking from the inside out, I see how negative the press is, and before I joined Uber I was biased by the media coverage as well. But everything I've seen on the inside directly goes against the media coverage I've seen. Take it with a grain of salt obviously.

I've seen first-hand uber employees doing things on behalf of the company that are even more unethical than what's being reported in the press.

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

#270

Post by rosstex »

dav43 wrote: post #259
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…

A simpler option would be to get the customer to also swipe to end the ride (as an option). This way you get two sources for the end of the ride?

And what if the customer swipes early?
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