The IT Nerd

Frequent readers of this blog know that I am no fan of Uber. But this news from The Telegraph gives me one more reason not to like them. Apparently the Uber app tracks your movements even when you’re not using it. What’s worse is that your choices are to let the Uber app always know where you are or never know where you are. The option to only share your location when the app is live is absent.

#fail.

Now you can disable the tracking of your location entirely and simply enter your pickup and drop off addresses the old fashioned way. Here’s how you do it:

• To do this on the iPhone, go to Settings, then Uber, from where you can toggle location access on and off.
• On Android, go to Settings, then Apps, then select Uber and adjust Permissions.

But that takes away from the convenience of the app. Uber for its part said this:

Uber said: “We’re always thinking about ways we can improve the rider experience, from sharpening our ETA estimates to identifying the best pick up location on any given street. Location is at the heart of the Uber experience, and we’re asking riders to provide us with more information to achieve these goals.”

Fine, but you have no practical need to track users when they aren’t using the app to get a ride. This is incredibly invasive and it is a safe bet that once this behaviour becomes public knowledge, users will express their concerns to you via social media, right before they remove the app off their phones.

This entry was posted on December 5, 2016 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Uber. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.