The country’s ride-hail leader is rolling back on how the app tracks users as part of its public quest to pull a key.
Uber will reportedly be phasing out an update it made to the app last year which limited users’ options for when their data is gathered. The company will now allow iOS and (soon) Android users to opt for tracking during rides only, replacing the previous options of “always” or “never.”
According to Reuters, which first reported this news, the company’s leaders now believe that the decision to make riders choose between being “always” or “never” monitored, rather than just during rides, was “a mistake.” In an interview with Reuters, Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said the company had previously endured “a lack of expertise” on privacy, but that it’s committed to improving its stance on that front.
In late 2016, Uber introduced the update so it could theoretically gather data from riders for an extra five minutes after their rides as related to parking conditions and such. The company later said that it had suspended this five-minute surveying with Android users, and never began with Apple ones.
Sullivan, who’s helped co-steer Uber as part of an executive team since CEO Travis Kalanick’s departure this summer, told Reuters, “We’ve been building through the turmoil and challenges because we already had our mandate.”
Following months of scandals involving the company, ride-hail platforms, and the tech industry itself, Uber has been digging into its self-imposed 180 Days of Change program and announced some measures to improve driver conditions and earnings along the way.
In the past few years, Uber and its main U.S. rival Lyft have frequently featured in legal conversations and conflicts at home and abroad over their labor practices, safety measures, treatment of women, and dealings with authority. The popular platform has also seen push-back over a range of privacy concerns in its time.
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