Uber responds to complaints that it seems to keep tracking users long after their rides are over
Amid reports from Uber passengers that the app keeps tracking their locations days and weeks after they hailed a ride, the company released a statement blaming Apple—that the issue was due to the iOS Maps extension in users’ iPhones. Despite worries that the tracking was due to Uber’s announcement last month that it would begin background collection of user data, it told TechCrunch that the issue is not due to a bug in their app “nor is it a consequence of the recent location services update.” Given some of Uber’s recent controversies surrounding privacy—from employees stalking ex-girlfriends to the company’s misuse of its “God View” tracking tool—you can forgive riders from being a little paranoid.
I haven’t used Uber in more than a week and yet the app has monitored my location within the last 24 hrs. Why? pic.twitter.com/PgGbo1VJCU
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) December 22, 2016