Uber Will Make It Easier Than Ever to Delete Your Personal Information From Its App

[MacRumors]

Uber today announced that it will begin rolling out a simplified way for users to permanently delete their personal information from the app over the next few weeks (via The Verge). The news follows a few months of protests against the company that included Uber's perceived opportunistic business tactics during the immigration airport protests in January, the questionable actions of CEO Travis Kalanick, and the app's location sharing practices.

Prior to the update, users could delete the app from their phone, but any data Uber had obtained from its users would remain on its servers unless customers personally emailed or called the company's support team. Now, users will be able to go through this process within the app itself thanks to a new "Delete Your Account" screen, which will immediately deactivate user accounts and then permanently delete everything after 30 days.

Uber said this protracted deletion period is a way for users to reverse their decision if they change their minds. Data deleted will also affect any information that was entered in Uber's food-related spin-off app, UberEats.

Late last year and early in 2017, Uber faced a series of backlashes from the public related to the app's tracking of user data up to five minutes after a trip ends, as well as multiple reports related to Kalanick and his relationship with President Donald Trump. Uber claims that the new account deletion update isn't in response to any of those previous reports, and that it's been in the works "for more than a year."

Uber insists today's changes aren't a response to those campaigns. A spokesperson said today's release has been scheduled for several months, and the changes have been in the works for even longer. "We've been working on improving this [account deletion] experience for more than a year," said an Uber spokesperson.

The update will also include more customizable notification settings, as well as a few tweaks to location sharing settings when friends ask to hail a ride from where you're located. The actual main location sharing feature is still a black and white choice, so users who opt-out will have to manually enter their location each time they want to request a ride.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Uber Will Make It Easier Than Ever to Delete Your Personal Information From Its App

 

[macduke]

Uber claims that the new account deletion update isn't in response to any of those previous reports, and that it's been in the works "for more than a year."

They say that, but Tim Cook threatened to remove them from the App Store quite recently and now we see this. Don't believe anything this company tells you.

 

[macTW]

Uber's perceived opportunistic business tactics during the immigration airport protests in January

Non educated people like economics and the free market when it benefits them, and hate it when it doesn't. Just like when there was a safety issue in an Australian city, and prices soared as people used uber to flee... the vast increase in demand drives the price. The drivers are risking their time and lives for the drives. Pay up.

 

[MrX8503]

Shoot, now I have to re download the app just to delete my account.

 

[Brookzy]

"Easier than ever"? Is this an advert? Before it was a massive PITA.

 

[xero9]

Shoot, now I have to re download the app just to delete my account.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I want to just delete that five minutes of location tracking so I can enable GPS for the app again. I really like Uber's service and don't want to kill my account, I only want to kill their extraneous location tracking.

Regardless, still lightyears better than taxis. The bar is very low.

 

[MrX8503]

I want to just delete that five minutes of location tracking so I can enable GPS for the app again. I really like Uber's service and don't want to kill my account, I only want to kill their extraneous location tracking.

Regardless, still lightyears better than taxis. The bar is very low.

Do you have Lyft in the area?

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Do you have Lyft in the area?

Other than the GPS thing I've been very happy with Uber. I also - more often than not anyway - use the black and lux services from Uber, I don't think Lyft has an equivalent to those.

 

[RadioGaGa1984]

Funny how people claim to have never used and have no use for Uber. Then go out of their way to continually show interest by posting their drivel in Uber related topics.

 

[Solomani]

Has someone here hired a greasy New York lawyer for a class action suit against Uber yet? I'm totally for it.

 

[ck2875]

They say that, but Tim Cook threatened to remove them from the App Store quite recently and now we see this. Don't believe anything this company tells you.

The news that the meeting / threat happened was quite recent, but that meeting actually happened in early 2015. So Uber saying that it's been in the works for over a year still would likely put it after that Tim Cook meeting. There isn't really anything dodgy about that comment you quoted, despite coming from Uber.

 

[M2M]

How is apples partner ( and uber clone) didi dache regarding user privacy? Oh I forgot it's China...

 

[VulchR]

Uber does sound like it personifies the worst aspects of exploitive capitalism, but I wonder if all the negative press it gets is deserved.

 

[macduke]

The news that the meeting / threat happened was quite recent, but that meeting actually happened in early 2015. So Uber saying that it's been in the works for over a year still would likely put it after that Tim Cook meeting. There isn't really anything dodgy about that comment you quoted, despite coming from Uber.

But that's about all the proof you need. Uber said it, so it's not true. I mean, for crying out loud, their CEO was bragging that at one point, he was the number two "Wii Tennis" player in the world. First of all, that game doesn't exist, but if he's referring to Wii Sports, there was no online component or leader boards. Lying is just in their culture, full stop. Even about stupid things like being the second best Nintendo tennis player. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. For Uber, the "over a year" part probably counts if you're talking about anything started in 2016 since we're now in 2017. They twist everything to their advantage. It's disgusting that people keep doing business with companies that are as gross as they are, from their piles of lies to their breaking of the law with their self driving car and stealing intellectual property from Waymo to their treatment of women. As a millennial I'm ashamed of these new millennial companies that think they can do whatever they want with no repercussions just because they provide a service that saves people money.