At the moment Uber’s app on iOS and Android will only track your location when you launch the app. However in a recent post on Uber’s blog, the company has announced that they will be making some privacy changes and that the app will now have the ability to track your location even when it is running in the background.
According to Uber, the change “would allow Uber to ask for access to a rider’s location when the app is running in the background and get people on their way more quickly.” That being said we’re not sure if the extra seconds used to pull your location data are really all that crucial, but if this results in better service, why not?
The update will also request for access to your contacts data. This will let Uber send special offers to your friends and family members. If this sounds a bit spammy, we have to agree with you but thankfully Uber is allowing this feature to be an opt-in, meaning that users will have the choice of whether or not they want to share said data with the company.
Given that there is a big deal being made with regards to privacy these days, we’re not sure if Uber’s new privacy policy will sit well with customers. If you’d like to learn more about these privacy policy changes, you can head on over to Uber’s website for the details.