Uber Revises Privacy Policy, Wants More Data From Users 144
itwbennett tips news that Uber has amended its privacy policy, making it much simpler to read and understand. But the policy also includes changes to what data Uber collects about its riders. Beginning July 15th, the Uber phone app will keep track of a rider's location while it's running in the background. Uber says riders will be able to opt out of this tracking. The policy changes also allow for advertising using the rider's contact list: "for example the ability to send special offers to riders' friends or family." The revision of Uber's privacy policy followed complaints at the end of last year that the company was overstepping its bounds.
Uber should start using (Score:5, Insightful)
adware-infested installers, perhaps hosted on SourceForge, which could also track customers.
Re: Uber should start using (Score:3, Interesting)
Does this also include the uber app that at&t pushed onto my phone as a non removable system app? There are NO UBER DRIVERS in upstate, backwoods New York
Re: (Score:3)
Does this also include the uber app that at&t pushed onto my phone as a non removable system app? There are NO UBER DRIVERS in upstate, backwoods New York
I smell opportunity!
Re: (Score:2)
Clearly you have never been there, all he can smell is cow shit. There aint no money out that way and what money there is, can drive itself around just fine.
Who would call uber for anything when NOTHING is within a 30-45 minute one way drive? Nobody who would need it could ever afford an uber ride, and the uber driver would would have a 30 min ride himself to get anywhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
or I really just wanted to say "all he can smell is cow shit".
Re: (Score:1)
Upstate or Northern New York? I have been to both and I am assured that there is a difference and that some folks will be quite adamant about it. I am not sure where the line is and I suspect it is a bit of a fuzzy line. Either way, I am curious... I would think that Upstate (say Buffalo) would have Uber but Northern, even as close to Buffalo as Niagara would not have Uber... As an aside, the skyway in Buffalo is awesome... Yes I have an opinion and I think it is valid and authoritative.
WTF? (Score:5, Interesting)
Wait, you think a user can give you permission to spam their friends and family?
How about go fuck yourself and not assuming that because you know Bob, you can scrape his contact list to spam Alice and Mary ... that screams of an epic level of ass-hattery. Because Bob can't legally give you permission to spam Alice and Mary.
Sounds like in addition to being just a dispatcher for illegal cabs, Uber is also a bunch of self entitled assholes who want to spam your friends.
Fuck you, Uber.
Re: (Score:1)
welcome to the internet of things, if you would argue as to what this "ass-hattery" has to do with IoT... then I present to you this "business model"
Old asshattery in new packaging (Score:3)
welcome to the internet of things, if you would argue as to what this "ass-hattery" has to do with IoT... then I present to you this "business model"
This form of asshattery is by no means limited to the "Internet of Things", or "Web 2.0", or "Social Media", or any other buzzword you might choose to throw out there. I'm not even certain it's restricted to Internet manifestations, though those are certainly the easiest and most prominent.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait, you think a user can give you permission to spam their friends and family?
Someone at Uber has been studying the LinkedIn business plan.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is quite honestly why I'm getting away from apps.
Generally, the web page works just fine from mobile, and you don't need to worry about the shit they're doing behind the scenes.
This whole "oh, just give us access to your contact list and we'll spam them" is crap. Same for things which say "hey, just give us your email password and we'll load your contacts".
How about piss off, and keep your hands off my private information.
Someone needs to start pelting the owners of Uber with eggs. Because this screams of greedy assholes deciding they get to have access to your entire phone.
In which case they deserve to die as a company as fast as possible.
If someone didn't explicitly opt-in to receive stuff from you, you have no business sending them stuff. In fact, isn't it illegal?
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
No, they should start spamming the *friends and family* of the owners of Uber with eggs. After all, clearly they opted in to such treatment by being related to or friends of the people who did this, right?
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
And, of course, since they've given themselves permission to share with 3rd parties (again, to make themselves money) ... then they've also give permission to doxx them and their families.
Everything about this screams "greedy assholes trying to leverage your personal information for profit while loudly saying taxi regulations don't apply"
The more I hear about Uber, the harder is is to think this isn't a purely criminal enterprise.
Let's see, you want to do location tracking of everybody with your app, and you want access to their private information, and you claim the right to pass that on to 3rd parties ... yeah, no.
How about drop dead you greedy bastards?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Even if I were into the American way, it would be for full-out capitalism which never allows corporations to get too big to fail. This only happens with blatant government assistance to the corp.
Unfortunately America has let greed rule the roost and there isn't much thought being put into anything at all.
Re: (Score:1)
*sighs*
Libertarianism != capitalism (in a pure sense and totally) regardless of what you think and what people have stated.
You are confusing Libertarians with the people who were ashamed to be Republican and have co-opted the term without actually knowing what Libertarianism is. A Libertarian is concerned about YOUR freedoms as an individual and there are many ways to go about achieving this. Pure capitalism is not, by any means, an acceptable method to achieve this if one is able to do simple math or has a
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Nice propaganda piece. In the real world, libertarians are just the loud arm of one political party, who want to rip out the structure of laws, and have the US fall into a banana republic, hoping for an Ayn Rand paradise. Same thing happened with people touting Marx's works... the results are virtually the same. In fact, both philosophies talk about the state disappearing under their literature.
The US was a libertarian's dream from post Civil War until the 1920s. No laws on businesses, and if anyone pro
Re: (Score:2)
No, they should start spamming the *friends and family* of the owners of Uber with eggs.
Is that spam and eggs; spam, spam, spam and eggs; or, spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs, and spam?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
100%. this is why I refuse to install 'apps' and I really use my smartphone to just check email, run gps and sometimes use voice to make calls. most of a smart phone is wasted on me since I'm not a typical teen or 20someething who 'buys into' the whole shebang, lack of privacy and all.
android is not really trustable, carriers are a joke for trust, app writers tend to abuse their position and write crap or malicious code and the whole thing is a steaming pile of shit.
the smart phone thing had a lot of potential but I see that we have ruined this medium and device just like the 'business guys' have totally ruined the web and the internet as a whole.
now, I had nothing against uber before hearing this; but now, I won't be caught dead inside one of their cars, now. this 'war on your customers' is nothing I care to help fund or support!
uber can go fuck off. they don't exist to me, given this stance of theirs.
(and now I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about having ANY 'contacts' in my contact list. again, phones cannot be trusted and apps, even less. best way to not have your friends spammed is, I guess, just to NOT even populate the contact list! seriously - might just return to flip phones and call it a century..)
Re: (Score:1)
Dont get a flip phone. I hate smart phones so use an LG VU. I pay 10 to 20 bucks for em on ebay and have a pretty good stockpile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L... [wikipedia.org]. Sounds like something you might like :)
Re: (Score:2)
With the way Uber acts, why did you think this wouldn't happen?
The way they thumb their nose at the law means that its a safer assumption to assume that they will do arse-hattery like this. Uber is in the business of making money and your data is worth money. They are not honest businessmen who care about the reputatio
Re: (Score:1)
This is what I'm starting to call "access creep": first you get the app to get access to a service of marginal quality. after you're roped in, they start slowly asking for more and more information: give us access to your location at all times. give us access to your contact list. give us access to your email account.
All so they can sell it to advertisers and try to sell you more crap that you don't need. At the end of the day, all social media has done is turn us and our lives - private or not - into a pr
Re: (Score:1)
after you're roped in, they start slowly asking for more and more information: give us access to your location at all times. give us access to your contact list. give us access to your email account.
Well dip me in butter and roll me in shit! That is not how it is supposed to be?
IOW - Good post.
Re: (Score:1)
Also, that is not a colloquialism but it should be.
Re: (Score:3)
So, I have a question: The smartphones people carry are getting more and more powerful. Is there no way to run an app in a sandbox or an emulator that is running on the phone? Like a VM? I'd love to be able to install an app and only give it the contacts I want or let it have the GPS coordinates when I want.
Re: (Score:2)
Some operating systems have more granular permission options. It is certainly possible to be sensible with how much data one gives to a particular application.
Re: (Score:1)
Yes you can. Don't use AT&T is a good starting point.
KGIII
(It seems I have been too vocal so /. does not want me to post any more. I feel strange and dirty because I am posting as AC. I made the comment, I own it. Posting as AC just seems wrong to me. I own up to my opinions.)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Sounds like in addition to being just a dispatcher for illegal cabs, Uber is also a bunch of self entitled assholes who want to spam your friends.
No, it's basically a bunch of Wall Street weenies riding the overinflated 'valuation' bubble.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like in addition to being just a dispatcher for illegal cabs, Uber is also a bunch of self entitled assholes who want to spam your friends.
No, it's basically a bunch of Wall Street weenies riding the overinflated 'valuation' bubble.
Maybe they have had so much exposure based on bad publicity that they decided to make it standard operating procedure? They don't need to spam your friends because the internet is spamming the internet with talk of Uber.
Re: (Score:3)
It would depend a lot on how it's implemented and how it's to be used. Yeah, it would very much suck if they are just scraping all your contacts and then mass spamming them. But the privacy policy actually just says Contacts Information:
No reason they need that information (Score:2)
It would depend a lot on how it's implemented and how it's to be used. Yeah, it would very much suck if they are just scraping all your contacts and then mass spamming them.
I cannot think of a single legitimate business reason they would need my contact list information. I cannot think of anything they could offer me that I would want that would entice me to share that information with them.
Notice the "If" at the beginning? And it's really no different than any other app that allows you to post/share/sent something to a friend or family member.
That depends heavily on whether it is opt in or opt out and whether it is opt in by default and how hard they push you to opt in. Plus the fact that they are even asking is a bit shady as far as I'm concerned.
Re: WTF? (Score:1)
Wtf? My carrier put this on my phone. It cannot be removed or disabled. And now it can spam our exchange server at work? Lawsuit and phone bans incoming.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Re: (Score:2)
It's interesting that the most walled of all the gardens actually gives the user the most control over their device.
Re: (Score:1)
If you permit the Uber app to access the address book on your device through the permission system used by your mobile platform,
So on Android at least, that's "if you permit the Uber app to install on your device".
Re: (Score:2)
That particular law is more or less a dead letter, given how easy covert or extraterritorial spamming is(and, of course, it's assorted gaping loopholes); but there are theoretical penalties that could stack up fast if you actually fuck up.
In this case, if grabbing people's c
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think you need any permission to send someone an email at all.
But yeah, I'd absolutely never agree to those terms. I'm willing to exchange money for a ride. I'm not willing to exchange money AND let you spam my friends. I'm not even willing to exchange spamming my friends if you give me the ride for free, Uber.
Re: (Score:2)
Legally, no. However there are social norms against sharing someone's contact info without asking (possibly with a few exceptions if you're sure they will want the call), especially when you give it to an advertiser.
Re: (Score:1)
Most all invasions of privacy are couched with excuses like it being for your benefit, ease of access, and simplicity of function even if said function is an invasion of privacy in and of itself.
No thanks (Score:3)
Just no. One more good reason not to use this "service". Uber is clearly run by a bunch of a-holes who think they can do whatever they want with your data. I'll pass. I hope this drives more customers away but, sadly, I doubt it will.
Re: (Score:2)
But when you call for a cab, they collect your number and location, and since they do this for everyone, pretty soon they have about as much information. And when you pay that single time with a credit card, bam - it all gets connected to a name. Without any privacy policies attached, not even a toothless one.
A taxi company knowing my phone number and location of pickup and location of drop-off is not "about as much information" as having my spacial coordinates and contact list at all times. Not even the same order of magnitude.
Your lament over taxi companies not having privacy policies is kind of odd. First, such policies protect the company, not you. Second, taxi companies have to follow rules, many of which cover privacy, which Uber flaunts.
Hijacking my friends' email addresses (Score:3)
...The policy changes also allow for advertising using the rider's contact list: "for example the ability to send special offers to riders' friends or family."...
There is absolutely no reason to send anything to my friends or family based upon what Uber finds rummaging through my phone.
.
If any of my friends or family want to receive such advertising, they should be the ones who need to approve the privacy policy. I cannot approve it for them.
Re: (Score:2)
Can't companies be fined for spamming in the USA?
The statement that Uber wants the "ability to send special offers to riders' friends or family" is a clear declaration to spam, since a person *cannot* opt someone else into recieving marketing emails.
Seems like any activity based on exploiting such contacts in said manner would clearly land Uber with not insignificant fines and/or criminal prosecution.
(IANAL etc.)
Re: (Score:2)
There's a reason it's called the CAN-SPAM act.
It's because spammers CAN SPAM you with impunity.
Re: (Score:1)
Can't companies be fined for spamming in the USA?
The statement that Uber wants the "ability to send special offers to riders' friends or family" is a clear declaration to spam, since a person *cannot* opt someone else into recieving marketing emails.
As long as they send a message YOUR phone to said contacts, it's YOU who is spamming, not Uber. Spamming failbook style FTW
No thanks... (Score:1)
Press-and-hold, click the "X", uninstalled!
But what about hacking of Uber accounts? (Score:2)
I saw this yesterday How did my dad's Uber account get hacked? [bbc.com]
Well there we go (Score:2)
Uber finally did something that has convinced me not to ever use their service. I know it has an opt out but, I have no interest in any service that wants to track me and use me to advertise to my friends.
If I want to give them some word of mouth to my friends, I will do that when I choose, thanks.
I don't give a shit about skirting regulation or attacking the comfortable regulated complancency of the taxi cab industry. This however, this disgusts me.
Re: (Score:2)
But it's all part of the same thing: we're special, and the rules don't apply to us, and in order to prop up our shit business model of ignoring the law, we're also going to be spamming assholes.
Basically their entire MO is to be assholes.
Yet another tech company which thinks the unicorn poop makes them magical and special.
Re:Well there we go (Score:5, Insightful)
You're completely fucking stupid, eh?
Look, whatever libertarian fantasy world you live in which says a company gets to ignore regulations because their asshole business model says they're special is full of shit. In fact, it's downright delusional. "Boo hoo, teh regulations are teh evil. Horseshit.
Uber like to paint themselves as some crusading underdog being oppressed by the taxi lobby -- but that;'s a crock of shit.
They're a company dispatching bootleg cabs. That's it.
Followed by a temper tantrum that it's OK for them to break the law because they say so.
Sorry, but childish selfish douchebag isn't a business model. This is just more .com era crap of a tech company thinking they're magical because they say so.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You think the taxi industry is overcharging because they are forced to provide a guaranteed safe service and need to recover the cost of that? Don't you want a safe service?
Re: (Score:2)
Regarding the second: There's no evidence that taxi service is safer than Uber. Even if it was, I want a freedom to choose. Pay more for supposedly safer service or save money and take alleged risk.
The greedy taxi industry wants to take away that choice. Because they know they have nothing to offer to justify the higher price.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
No
If one entity provides added value for added price it can compete with other, cheaper "budget" entities. That's why Taxis co-existed with more expensive limo service since forever.
>complete lack of regulation
B.S. and you know it. Uber drivers follow the same rules of the road as every other driver on the road. To level the playing field, the outdated and irrelevant rules applicable to the taxi companies should be repealed, not enforced.
> I d
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Let people decide whether it is better for them to rob businesses and rape others or not.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you don't like the taxi laws, your choice in our free society is to go fight them.
Re: (Score:2)
Government has important and legitimate functions such as defense, border control, minting currency, punishing *real* crimes (homicide, rape, larceny etc) and others. All those functions are listed in the constitution.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why are you being obtuse?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's exactly the opposite, the taxi companies are being anti-competitive. Uber and its clients do not affect you or the taxi industry at all.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not sure if you are young or not, but I certainly see a lot of ignorance of the right way to change things these days.
This will undermine the hard working people that the capitalist system is *supposed* to be *rewarding*.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In many jurisdictions, Uber drivers are not required by law to accept your destination if it does not please them. A taxi faces consequences if they do that. The playing field is not even and Uber does not follow the same rules.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Please I have taken the cabs in my areas a couple of times, I hever never once been impressed by the quality of cars, and only occasionally drivers.
Never tried uber, if they pass inspection they can't be much worst.
Re: (Score:2)
this is Uber we're discussing (Score:2)
It's probably too late (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:It's probably too late (Score:4, Informative)
Uber is a multibillion dollar company now....
No, Uber has been 'valued' as a multi-billion dollar company by the venture capitalists who are backing them. It has nothing to do with Uber's actual economic activity or the net-worth of their assets and cash. When venture capitalists put a value anything, it really means that is their asking price for that "investment". It has nothing to do with true economic value. I personally am willing to go out on a limb and would value Uber somewhere between my kid brother's lemonade stand (proven profitability) and a decomissioned Russian aircraft carrier (proven scrap value). Exactly where in that range Uber falls, I cannot say. But then again, I'm not a venture capitalist.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So if they are valued as a multibillion dollar company then they have money to purchase lawyers as if they are a multibillion dollar company....
So if they are valued as a multibillion dollar company, they could have a line of credit as if they were a multi-billion dollar company. Agree 100% with the rest of your post.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Uber already left my state because they were told they had to meet some piddly insurance and a couple other inconsequential requirements.
They are not a ride share service (Score:3)
Remember it is not a rideshare service, but rather a global taxi service with centralized command and control which is more that happy to tell everyone where you went and what you were doing. It basically breaks the "cabbie's code" of privacy. And probably stores your credit card information on a laughably secure server.
Sample mailing (Score:5, Funny)
Based on Bob's Uber profile statistics we have determined that he took 7 after-hours rides to the red light district during recent months. Please find attached 10% discount coupon for a ride to lawyer's office.
Sincerely,
Uber's Customer Retention Team.
OK, now... (Score:3)
Uber is just trying to kill itself...
"The policy changes also allow for advertising using the rider's contact list: "for example the ability to send special offers to riders' friends or family.""
I'd kill/disown friends/family that served me up this crap.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
This will not kill Uber, or slow it down in any way. Most people do not care about their privacy online. If they did, Facebook would have sunk a long long time ago.
They might, if facebook starts spamming your contact list with advertisements purporting to come from you.
I've used Uber a fair amount lately, but I won't be going forward. For now I'll use Lyft, and if they go the same route, I'll go back to taking cabs and paying a little extra. Mining my contact list like an eastern-block mafia spammer is a
Re: (Score:2)
Never used Uber, and generally I'll spend the extra couple bucks to rent a car rather than bother with a cab either.
This will come back to bite them in ass, and hard.
Slashdot Media Revises Privacy Policy (Score:2)
Enjoy your Slashdot Media-tainted SourceForge downloads.
Enjoy your activities being possibly tracked when you download from their sites.
Enjoy assholes raping your privacy for profit.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, asshole. They usurped an account claiming that it was inactive and abandoned when the fucking source update record says completely fucking otherwise.
Try again when you've got a fucking clue.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh to boot...
SourceForge doesn't actually pay for most of the servers and bandwidth used to serve up their projects and they never have. All of the downloads are hosted on a network of mirrors run by organisations like universities out of the pure goodness of their heart.
I think it's time to have a serious talk with those providers.
This is why we need O/S Level control (Score:2)
I'm an Uber and Lyft user. I guess I'll be uninstalling Uber if I can't fully disable this and using Lyft more. I really do wish Google and Apple would get off their asses and let things like individual privilege access into the mainstream, such as being able to deny access to your contact list. For example, you can do this on Cyanogen but not in lollipop. In having this feature any app changes like this can be one 1) opted out or if no opt-out is available 2) deny access to the information these apps wa
Re: (Score:3)
What's really needed is to have OS-level control of permissions that the apps can't see. If an app is denied access to your contacts, it can see a dummy contact list. If an app is denied Internet access, it thinks the device is simply out of range at the moment. If an app is denied location services, it's told that there's no signal (or optionally given a fixed location that you specify).
Otherwise apps will refuse to function based on the lack of access that they don't really need.
Re: (Score:2)
I really do wish Google and Apple would get off their asses and let things like individual privilege access into the mainstream, such as being able to deny access to your contact list. For example, /p>
Why would they do that?
Remember that both Apple and Google make money by collecting your information and selling it (at least Google gives you some assurance it's anonymised before sale). Why would they want to make it harder to do this.
Performance Art (Score:2)
I'm beginning to think that Uber is just a performance art project to see just how big of arseholes a company can become before people leave it.
$commentSubject (Score:2)
To sum up (Score:2)
I've never used Uber before as I haven't needed a cab anywhere Uber operates. I assumed that I would try it at some point in the future, but now I guess not.
Maybe they'll get enough new customers through friends and family that they don't need customers who don't want theirs to be harassed.
Re: (Score:2)
If you've used it, too late.