Uber will stop tracking riders after trips.
Uber will end a controversial policy of tracking some riders for five minutes after their trip ends, the ride-hailing company said Tuesday as it tries to repair its privacy reputation.
Uber was criticized by users and privacy advocates when it announced last year that it would collect location data from riders through its app from the time the trip was requested through five minutes after it ended “to enhance safety.”
Users who didn’t want to be tracked after their ride ended could opt out by turning off the app’s location services. But that required them to manually enter a pickup spot.
Uber asked all users for permission to collect posttrip location data but it actually collected that data only from those with Android devices, Uber spokeswoman Melanie Ensign said. Uber has “paused” that data collection, she said.
The company never started collecting the information from users with iPhones and other iOS devices, Ensign said.
The app’s settings allow users to choose between never allowing the app to collect location and always allowing it to collect that information anytime the app is running, even in the background. The always option will soon change to specify that data collection will stop once a trip ends or is canceled, Uber said.
Customers using iOS devices soon will have a third option in their settings: to allow Uber to collect location only while the app is in use, and to stop once the trip is over, Ensign said. Any time Uber wants to access location while the app is running in the background, the user will get a notice and can choose whether to share the information.
Uber’s new policy says that “there are special circumstances, such as preventing fraud and responding to safety incidents, where Uber may collect background location for any rider in the ‘While Using’ setting. A notice would appear onscreen in such a case.” It is working to make the new option available for Android devices, Ensign said.
Sen. Al Franken, DMinn., who has pressed Uber to strengthen its privacy policies, said Tuesday that he is pleased with the change.
“I’m hopeful that this announcement is the first step in Uber’s renewed commitment to the privacy and security of its users,” he said.
Uber is also facing scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, now targeting possible violations of laws against overseas bribery. The company said it’s cooperating with U.S. investigators looking into whether employees violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The company didn’t disclose where the alleged violation occurred.
The company is being sued by a woman whose Uber driver was convicted of rape in an Indian court. Top Uber executives, including former CEO Travis Kalanick, privately questioned whether the rape happened and whether it had been a set up by Uber’s largest competitor in India. There are questions in that case about how Uber executives acquired the woman’s medical report.