14 DAY TRIAL // If you live in a major metropolitan city, you’re probably familiar with Uber. This is a ridesharing service which is available on your iOS or Android phones and can bring a car to your location at a tap of a button.
Well, the startup has just announced in a recent blog post that it will be updating its iPhone and Android apps with a pretty controversial feature.
For the time being, Uber’s mobile application can only access your location data when the app is opened and on the screen. But with the new update, the company will be able to track location even as the application runs in the background.
So if you open up the app throughout the day and then just forget about it and let it lie there in background afterwards, Uber will continue to track you. The change is said to affect both drivers and riders.
Uber wants you to share more info with it
The startup says the new ability will help “get people on their way more quickly” as the location of drivers and riders alike will be updated and showcased in real time.
The update will also ask users to be granted access to contacts data. That’s because Uber is prepping a new service which is said to allow customers to send special offers to their friends and family, hence the requirement.
But Uber won’t impose these changes upon you, if you truly don’t want them in your life. So for the time being, you’ll have the option to opt in the changes which will start being implemented on July 15.
Uber knows the changes will quickly raise up some privacy concerns, and that’s why it mentions that its team of people working to assist privacy needs has doubled in recent times.
On top of that, its privacy policy has been revised and trimmed down and is now a lot shorter than the old one. It’s also more easily graspable for the average folk, who doesn’t have a law degree.
It remains to be seen if Uber users will like the changes and will be willing to share more of their private info with the ride-sharing service.