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Uber Wants To Track Your Location Even When You're Not Using the App, Here's Why (businessinsider.com)
With the most recent update to Uber's ride-hailing app, the company has begun requesting users if they are willing to share their location data with Uber app even while the app is not in use. The company says it plans to use the data gained to improve user experience -- including offering improved pick-up times and locations. From an article on Business Insider: In August the company moved away from using Google Maps for its service and began using its own mapping technology. Google's lack of accuracy in many non-Western countries led to increased friction between consumers and drivers. This means the company needs to boost the amount of location data it has. Location data could also be used to provide new channels of revenue for the digital platform. This could include serving ads of local businesses or recommending nearby places of interest to users. Mobile marketing, which relies on accurate location data is a rapidly growing industry and could serve as a revenue windfall for Uber in the years ahead as it faces increasing competition. In fact, revenue from location-targeted mobile ads is expected to grow at an annualized rate of almost 34% between 2014 and 2019, surpassing $18 billion, according to a forecast from BIA/Kelsey.
What could possibly go wrong?
The sole reason I charge my mobile and pay my data plan is so that companies can use me to improve their business plans and profitability while providing me with zero compensation. Let me know if I can do something else to help!
Raymond Chen has a recurring theme on his Old New Thing blog of "What if applications other than yours did this?" What would battery life or capped data plans look like if every application felt a need to send location telemetry home all the time?
Pining for the days when The Glorious MEEPT!!! graced SlapDash with his wisdom.
I don't even keep location services turned on except when I need to use my phone as a GPS, never mind allow any apps to access it.
Why the hell would I want to share my location with Uber? Oh, right - "Location data could also be used to provide new channels of revenue for the digital platform. This could include serving ads of local businesses". Yeah, kindly fuck right off, Uber.
Isn't that going to be a bit of a battery drain issue? In order to do that, its going to have to constantly be running something in the background checking your GPS.
That being said, Google is already doing this on Android. I know this because I'm constantly getting maps notifications of how long it will take to drive to home/work, unasked. Still, I think it only does that twice a day, and this uber thing seems completely open-ended.
"...The company says it plans to use the data gained to improve user experience..."
Oh, enough with the bullshit.
You want this additional telemetry data because you're going to sell it.
You want this additional telemetry data because you're going to sell it.
You want this additional telemetry data because you're going to sell it.
Revenue and Profit are the king and queen of business, so drop the lame-ass excuses for gathering more data already. Shit gets old.
You miss the point of taxis (and other transportation-for-hire services). The point being you don't have to have your phone charged and w/ you. Let's say you're talking a walk and decide to visit a friend, something for which you need not have your phone w/ you. So you hail a taxi, get taken to her place, get dropped, pay, and don't think about it, once the driver ends the ride. As an added advantage, you don't have to haggle, and can decide whether to tip or not.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.