Uber To Turn Into a Big Data Company By Selling Location Data

Presto Vivace sends news that Uber has entered into a partnership with Starwood Hotels that hooks accounts from both companies together. If you're a customer of both, you'll get a small benefit when chartering Uber rides, but the cost is that Uber will share all their data on you with Starwood. The article says, This year, we are going to see the transformation of Uber into a big data company cut from the same cloth as Google, Facebook and Visa – using the wealth of information they know about me and you to deliver new services and generate revenue by selling this data to others. ... Uber can run the same program with airlines, restaurants, nightclubs, bars – every time you go from point A to point B in an Uber, “A”, “B” or both represent a new potential consumer of your data. ... Uber knows the hot nightclubs, best restaurants and most obviously now has as much data about traffic patterns as Waze (which coincidentally trades data with local governments). Combining Uber’s data with the very-personal data that customers are willing to give up in exchange for benefits, means that Uber can, and is, on its way to becoming a Big Data company.

Comments

And now, things get Ugly.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Remember back when Uber's big privacy problem was 'God View?

Well, they promised to cut back their sleazebag executives' personal access to that. They might even have been not-lying. Unfortunately, that just meant that they were growing up, and moving into the big-kid leagues of privacy violation. As I said then:

"So, in a predictable (honestly, surprising they made it to this market cap without doing it already) part of the maturation process; Uber is claiming that they'll rein in discretionary access to personal information by their frat-bro-asshole management, and instead put full database access to all the data ever in the hands of their advertising and customer analytics weasels.

That's the unpleasant flip side to a story like this. Yes, as it happens, Uber has some of the most punchable management shitweasels one could ask for. The very idea of one of them using 'god view' on you makes you want to take a hot shower and scrub yourself until the uncleanness is gone. However, while opportunistic assholerly is repulsive, it is also unsystematic. Once they grow up a bit, and put those data into the hands of solid, value-rational, systematic, people who aim to squeeze every drop of value out of it, then you are really screwed."

Well, there we are: 'turning into a big data company' is pretty much the thermonuclear option when it comes to customer privacy; more or less the most invasive thing we yet have the technology to make cost effective. It'll take some real innovating for them to dig deeper.

Re:And now, things get Ugly.

[auric_dude]

Once again you are the product.

Re:And now, things get Ugly.

[ShanghaiBill]

and you don't get a dime for it.

Yes you do. You get discounts on other goods and services. Plus it is opt in, so if you don't want them to share your data then don't opt in.

Re:And now, things get Ugly.

[gnasher719]

This is not what big data is, this is just selling customers' information. And Google, despite being listed in the summary, never does it BTW.

That lame argument that Google doesn't sell out customer's data comes up again and again. And it is nonsense, every time. They don't sell the data, but they sell the use of the data. They place adverts based on the data, using their deep knowledge about you (the product).

This is like arguing that an email spammer who doesn't sell his address list to other spammers, but sends spam emails as a service, is a good guy because he doesn't sell your address. Or arguing that a car thief doesn't do any harm as long as he drives around in my car himself, or rents it out, or uses it as a taxi, as long as he doesn't sell it.

Re:And now, things get Ugly.

[cinky]

and I get that when it comes to google - I get to use their services for "free". But I pay uber and many other companies for their services and I feel I'm entitled to privacy of data they have about me...

Re:And now, things get Ugly.

[plopez]

Is there a word for that even? Where you pay somebody and they unwelcomingly shag you? Only thing I can think of is "taxpayer."

Nah. I don't know your situation but I get, or have received; roads, schools, fire protection, cheap food, clean water (unheard of in many places in the world), airports, railway travel, national parks, national forests, state forests, public parks, heavily subsidized university education, cleaner air, cleaner water, and public libraries. By pooling my tax money with others I we use our combined cash to create a civilization. Which is why I hate tax cheats and dodgers, they are parasites.

And treat the new market the same

[kooky45]

They say they'll operate like Google and Facebook, but they'll do the same as they've done with taxi regulations; ignore the rules. Don't be suprised if we hear about data protection regulations being flouted because Uber are "just a car sharing company, and not a marketting giant".

the ... information they know about me and you

[Nutria]

Good thing I don't use Uber, then!

Re: the ... information they know about me and you

[Anonymous Coward]

But where is love for Uber? There has been a lot of Slashdot people talking up Uber. I wonder what those same people are thinking now. Personally I never liked Uber to begin with because they are breaking laws instead of trying to work with city governments.

If you're surprised

[magamiako1]

You're an idiot, plain and simple.

Selling "Customers as a service" is the big, new economy and every single "startup" and "app" coming out of places like Y Combinator in the past few years has been about nothing more than selling your information. Every mobile app, every mobile game. Every "CHECK OUT THIS FREE NEW THING!" For example, Life 360. Think they're offering this for free? Life360 is currently valued at $250M. Facebook paid a few billion for WhatsApp Messenger.

You're a complete moron if you haven't been watching this.

Honestly ...

[gstoddart]

Anybody who says they didn't see this coming is a complete fool.

This kind of crap was the goal all along.

They're a non-taxi taxi company who has non-employee employees who aren't covered by any rules, who has to justify a billion plus in valuation, and want to sell you data.

Everything about this company has been sleazy from the get go. Suddenly becoming a big-data company was entirely predictable.

Just another greedy technology company, claiming to be innovative, mostly skirting around the rules they claim don't apply to them, and wanting to use their access to your cell phone to sell data about you ... because that's where the real money is.

These guys have always sounded like a sleazy player. Maybe their "customers" will wise up. And maybe their drivers will too. The product has always been data.

The advantage of a cab is.....

[plopez]

private cash only transactions.

Re:Genius

[bulled]

Easy, the solution is don't use Uber. I am surprised that this is surprising anyone.