Uber may track you 24/7
Uber may track you 24/7
By Aaron Smith
Uber's hot on your trail.
A privacy group has filed a complaint against Uber for
its updated policy of tracking passengers and accessing their personal
information.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington,
D.C., is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the growing ride
service, which is considering tracking passengers through their mobile devices
-- even when they're not actively using the Uber app.
"Uber will claim the right to collect personal
information and detailed location data of American consumers, even when they
are not using the service," EPIC said in its complaint filed Monday.
Uber explained last month in a statement how it collects
information on drivers and passengers when they use the service. Uber gathers
information through the user's mobile device to track location, contacts,
transactions and other details. The company said it "may also collect the
precise location of your device when the app is running in the foreground or
background."
In order for Uber to record customer info, app users have
to authorize that on their devices.
That's the detail that EPIC is concerned about -- the
fact that Uber might track the location of a user and collect information even
when he or she is not actively using the app.
But Uber slammed EPIC as having "no basis for this
complaint."
EPIC said past claims of Uber employees using its
technology to track locations and other information on journalists critical of
the company is cause for concern that the technology could be misused. The
complaint also expressed concerns that user data could be accessed by hackers.
CNNMoney (New York)
June 23, 2015: 1:10 PM ET
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