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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

#421
post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but Uber as a company is very ethical If it wasn't for the apparent money laundry[1], drivers exploitation[2], cashing out on desperation[3], and tax evasion[4], maybe I could believe that. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-25/uber-lose... (How can the company survive?) [1] https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search?q=uber (Closing and reopening with different names in the UK. Apparently 4? times s…

I think the parent's point is that there's nothing hidden going on in addition to the known business model and standard company practices. You obviously disagree with that business model, and that's fine. For the millions of people who don't disagree with it, parent says: "we are not cheating or abusing you behind your back". Those links are also pretty weak: all speculation or opinion pieces about things that are ou…

Thank you for your comment, always good to read and learn from other points of view.

I can agree with the weak links. Unfortunately didn't have much time to find better ones. Also, having The Sun as source in HN doesn't give it much of a credibility, but I'm sure there are more reliable sources out there [1]. I can also agree that this point can be made from a bit of a media hysteria. But a company whose business model makes prevail supply/demand rules on a disaster, seems like a bit sick to me. From my point of view, this is not an ethical company behavior. And when I mean company, I mean company as a whole despite believing there are departments within the company where things are done ethically (parent's point maybe?).

Also, again in my opinion, a company shouldn't attempt tax evasion, by any means p.e. tax evasion schemes (most of them arguably legal) as it impacts all country's and overall economy. This said, I classify most big companies as unethical. This can possibly be one of the main reasons the gap between rich and poor is getting bigger every year as big sharks cash out clean out of the exploited marked. If a company disagrees with a country's taxation model, ethically, maybe it shouldn't attempt to get to that market?

Company name changes can be seen as tactical maneuvers used for tax evasion also and debt evasion in case the company goes bust. On previous + [2],[3], altogether, this may present no substantial evidence on money laundry but do you really believe investors would be naively burning billions worth of investment on a company which on 7+ years of existence didn't present, neither is close to presenting, any profit?

I'm not saying cab drivers shouldn't be put through similar criticism, maybe they should. But I think we cannot generalize on that. There are good and bad professionals everywhere. What I can say, based on what I know from my country, is that cab drivers cannot scam you as their fees are regulated. They cannot charge you more that X per Km as their taximeters are regulated by the government to ensure that. They need to have a professional driving license and be identifiable to the customer. And they're also entitled to pay their taxes accordingly. Of course one can always hear a bad experience from time to time, but again, that is subject to happen in every industry.

[1] https://twitter.com/SarahBertolozzi/status/77734731474688409...

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-25/uber-lose...

[3] http://qz.com/618022/ubers-ceo-says-the-company-is-burning-1...

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

#422

I wrote to Uber a week back or so regarding this and this how they responded: My name is Pratik from Uber support, I hope you doing well ! Sorry to hear about about your experience.. I completely understand that this wasn't the experience you expect with Uber. We are constantly working to improve the Uber experience and your input is crucial to doing so. I’ll pass this along to the appropriate team. Thanks again! ---…

That's the bullshit response they give you to anything that isn't solvable with a ride credit.

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

#423
post #243
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's clever of them. Perhaps your elasticity of demand is lower.

I was a huge fan until now. I'm really disappointed that they pick and choose who they think should pay more for the same ride.

I'm not. It's called "price discrimination" and if you don't do that at your business, you should. Whenever you hear a fun story about enterprise pricing, that's what it's talking about. Mobile phones make it more specific.

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

#425
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do know that your phone company already has that info, right?

Your bank has information about your accounts. So it should be ok to make it public, right?

How did you make that leap? But, the card companies do sell your data in "aggregate". The phone companies as well.

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

#426
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't equate loss of privacy to a house fire. To be a good analogy, burning my car would need to be beneficial in some way.

I see what you're trying to get at, but I there's probably better way to make your point.

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

#427
I despise apps that do "Always" or "Never" for Location Tracking. It's really reflective of the larger issue of control of data, but this is particularly galling when the app hasn't given you an option nor a good reason for "Always" tracking. I'm always surprised when each iOS update continues _allowing the app to define available choices_ instead of giving the consumer the "While Using" option for any app requesting location.

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

#429
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'm sorry but Uber has broken the law in how many different cities, and you have the gall to call Uber "ethical"? Um, no. Uber is not ethical. Uber willfully breaks laws they don't like when they think they can get away with it.

Why should I EVER trust Uber to obey the law or act ethnically towards me, when they already why as if laws are optional?

Uber can get fucked.

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

#430
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but why does Uber need/care about that information? If I ask to be dropped off at X and walk a couple blocks to Y, Uber shouldn't care. I can understand the argument that maybe going to certain buildings you have to be dropped off at a specific spot, but that seems like a minor gain for something that's more than just a minor intrusion.

(Uber engineer here) The data is used for (or can be used for) a number of practical and important purposes. These are some examples of what we do as well as what we could do with such data: - Fighting fraud - Improving "suggested pickup" locations - Improvements around POOL (we'd rather suggest a location that's easy to pick up from than one that's unsafe) - Figuring out what side of the street you end up on (we can…

You already had that information. I doubt most users switch away from the uber app the instant they leave the car, so the "while using" permissions would allow you to collect all of that.

I also doubt that Uber as a company, and Uber engineers individually, hadn't realized that already.

I'm going to deny permission, and call Uber from Apple maps. No reason for you to track me from M-F if I only use Uber Sa-Su.

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