Uber to Use Location Data to Sell Targeted Ads

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 29, 2000
Messages
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I'm, honestly a little surprised, as in this day and age it is safe to assume that every app you use, and every webpage you visit is taking as much of your data as it can, and - if not directly used for advertising - is selling it off to data brokers,m which combine it with data from other sources (other apps, websites, services) to create a profile on you for advertising purposes.

I was pretty convinced Uber was already doing this. But I guess it starts now.

They will be tracking your every move and selling advertising information to data brokers and advertisers based on the places you go.

15 years ago, this would have brought out the pitchforks, but today, I guess no one cares.

I still believe we need regulation to ban any and all collection and use of peoples data, making data describing any aspect of a person the sole property of that person, which cannot be traded for anything, even the free use of a service.

But this is the big brother dystopia we live in, I guess.
 
"journey ads"? i'm paying for this ride already, why?

thankfully, I usually set up a ride and "fire and forget" and just be there on time so I'm not looking at my phone or checking my emails often enough to worry. but I guess this is another algorithm to mess with....time to start booking trips to the holocaust museum on a weekly basis.
 
I think most people just avoid. I don't use ridesharing at all. And I would imagine a lot of other people also do not.

Lawmakers don't both protecting anyone in the US. Either through ignorance or already being in the pockets of big data. Lobbying runs the US. If you think otherwise you're fooling yourself.
 
vegeta535 said:
It is why I hate the entire app thing. Everything has a app now. All it does is give these companies easier access to your phone for data collection.
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In fairness as we've seen from the cookie managing required by both the US and Europe, that isn't really the case.
Without "blocks" it was already possible to mine ALL of your browsing history and location data and how you interacted with basically all things on the internet.

Apps at least can easily force compartmentalization. The App can put its tentacles in everything necessary to run it, but no further (and on Apple side it's possible to have even "essential" parts of the app turned off on a per app basis if you so choose - Android from what I hear just lets developers do whatever they want). In that sense Apps are significantly more limiting than a browser window.

Westwood said:
This is why I'll always carry a dumb phone. People make fun of me for it all the time too for not having a smart phone.
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Live your life bro. Do whatever works for you. I'll admit to being a slave of GPS and social, at least to a certain degree. And streamable music and video have also won me over. If you can live like it's 1997 and before, by all means.

However, make no mistake, any cellphone is trackable. It's just there won't be internet data to track.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Live your life bro. Do whatever works for you. I'll admit to being a slave of GPS and social, at least to a certain degree. And streamable music and video have also won me over. If you can live like it's 1997 and before, by all means.
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I do cheat a little, though. I've got an old S[something]. No SIM card. Not activated. I don't even know what carrier. It has Spotify and a GPS on it for the motorcycles. I have no idea if that thing tracks me not being connected. ??
 
scottypippin said:
"journey ads"? i'm paying for this ride already, why?

thankfully, I usually set up a ride and "fire and forget" and just be there on time so I'm not looking at my phone or checking my emails often enough to worry. but I guess this is another algorithm to mess with....time to start booking trips to the holocaust museum on a weekly basis.
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I'm less concerned with the ads themselves, and more concerned with the collection of data used to present those ads
 
Westwood said:
This is why I'll always carry a dumb phone. People make fun of me for it all the time too for not having a smart phone.
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You try to go to a concert lately? Usually ticketmaster is the only game in town, and they will only let you enter the venue by scanning the barcode on your smartphone which can only be accessed using the app. It's not even available in the web version. You bet that's to force you to use an app that can collect data on you.

Many cities and towns public transit systems require you to have an app installed on a smartphone in order to use them.

I don't regularly use ride hailing services, but recently I needed an emergency service on my car at the dealership. Because of the last minute nature of the appointment, they didn't have a loaner available. I had to get home and back to pick up the car somehow.

And that's not to mention the tons of mainstream film and TV series that are only available in streaming apps now.

A few years ago before we bought our house, when applying to rent an apartment we were required to use a special app to apply. It wasn't negotiable. If you wanted the apartment, you had to use the app. You bet it was collecting data.

Sure, you can stop going to shows and not watch popular TV. You can isolate yourself from culture if you want to. These are not essentials, but more and more things that are essentials that you cannot avoid unless you want to live off the grid in a cabin in the woods and drink your own pee.

Do you use a phone? Not a smartphone, but just phone calls. You bet your phone records are being sold to a data broker to complete your profile.

Same with the data collected by license plate cameras when you go through till booths. Heck, in 2022 you can't even buy a new car that doesn't have connected services that are constantly dialing home, and you are a fool of you think that data isn't collected and sold to data brokers to complete your profile.

Same with credit card records, bank transactions, etc. etc.

You don't even have to be on the Internet at all.

It's time this entire system gets set on fire. ALL data describing a person needs to become the property of that person and that person only, illegal to be possessed by anyone else, and impossible to trade away in exchange for "free" services.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
You try to go to a concert lately? Usually ticketmaster is the only game in town, and they will only let you enter the venue by scanning the barcode on your smartphone which can only be accessed using the app. It's not even available in the web version. You bet that's to force you to use an app that can collect data on you.

Many cities and towns public transit systems require you to have an app installed on a smartphone in order to use them.

I don't regularly use ride hailing services, but recently I needed an emergency service on my car at the dealership. Because of the last minute nature of the appointment, they didn't have a loaner available. I had to get home and back to pick up the car somehow.

And that's not to mention the tons of mainstream film and TV series that are only available in streaming apps now.

A few years ago before we bought our house, when applying to rent an apartment we were required to use a special app to apply. It wasn't negotiable. If you wanted the apartment, you had to use the app. You bet it was collecting data.

Sure, you can stop going to shows and not watch popular TV. You can isolate yourself from culture if you want to. These are not essentials, but more and more things that are essentials that you cannot avoid unless you want to live off the grid in a cabin in the woods and drink your own pee.

Do you use a phone? Not a smartphone, but just phone calls. You bet your phone records are being sold to a data broker to complete your profile.

Same with the data collected by license plate cameras when you go through till booths. Heck, in 2022 you can't even buy a new car that doesn't have connected services that are constantly dialing home, and you are a fool of you think that data isn't collected and sold to data brokers to complete your profile.

Same with credit card records, bank transactions, etc. etc.

You don't even have to be on the Internet at all.

It's time this entire system gets set on fire. ALL data describing a person needs to become the property of that person and that person only, illegal to be possessed by anyone else, and impossible to trade away in exchange for "free" services.
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I use a Sonim XP5. That's the extent of it. I do live in a cabin in the woods. No TV or anything. Computer, sure. I know I'm being tracked through that stuff. I had an S5 for about a year. I never used the apps. Got tired of the ads. If it wasn't for my kid, I wouldn't have a phone at all. Car's a 2005. Newest motorcycle is a 2010. One of my bikes still has a carb. The past ten years, I've drifted in complete opposite of what society would expect someone to.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm less concerned with the ads themselves, and more concerned with the collection of data used to present those ads
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no yeah, that is for sure an issue - it always feels almost inescapable now to constantly have telemetry generated about you, and local authorities seem unconcerned. I meant to comment that if companies are doing so much more than the average person can defend against to make sure the data exists, why not punish that by making the data horribly incorrect? i.e. task the algorithm with assigning me as a holocaust museum enthusiast, who is always at the holocaust museum.

is the solution remotely practical? no. am I going to blow that much money on Uber just to have incorrect data on me? probably not. Would it actually do anything significant to Uber? hell no. but my joke at least makes an example of the concept....however ineffective it might be.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Many cities and towns public transit systems require you to have an app installed on a smartphone in order to use them.
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I've seen that with (e.g.) parking garages for public transit systems that now require an app. The former system was already automated, but new "operating system requirements" were added because parking a vehicle was too simple.
 
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Meh whatever - as stated no matter how off the grid anyone thinks they are there's still a profile on you compiled through internet/phone (dumb or smart)/purchases (debit/credit) and public records - they know who you are and what you do. Big data won before you even realized it was a thing. Credit cards started this long before the internet or apps. Fighting it now is really just inconveniencing yourself and that's it nowadays. Even if you just don't wanna give one place your data, Facebook for example, Facebook can just buy the relevant data or as much of from somewhere else. Doesn't mean you have to participate, but means you're not saving/safe guarding anything either way.
 
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This is something that must be fought, even if it seems futile. The problem is that if we accept privacy invasion, then we immediately open the door to the next level which becomes the denial of services to people with certain political views that the company doesn't like, etc. Before you know it, we're in a corporate fascist nightmare where human rights violations and tyranny are accepted as normal.

Big Tech is not all powerful, we have seen this with Paypal having to back down on some recent horrible policy changes that involved fining users that they didn't like after there was a swell of opposition. If enough people stop using smartphones or refuse to install apps then operations like ride sharing, concert venues, restaurants, etc would also be forced to back down the same way. Big Tech wants you to think that resisting this takeover is hopeless, since despair is generally the tyrants greatest weapon. It is not though. We just have to demand respect by drawing a line and not giving into the slippery slope, then the next step is policy changes and laws to hold tech companies accountable.
 
Uber has always been a ”do more evil” business. Lyft isn’t great but there’s a reason I use Lyft for any rideshare and haven’t had Uber apps installed on my devices for several years now.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
You try to go to a concert lately? Usually ticketmaster is the only game in town, and they will only let you enter the venue by scanning the barcode on your smartphone which can only be accessed using the app. It's not even available in the web version. You bet that's to force you to use an app that can collect data on you.

Many cities and towns public transit systems require you to have an app installed on a smartphone in order to use them.
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What the FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?!?!?!??!?!!!

I mean, when my brother travels on planes he often uses digital tickets that can be scanned right on his phone, but I figured that was an optional convenience. Now I am wondering if that is the only way to use plane tickets these days.


Zarathustra[H] said:
And that's not to mention the tons of mainstream film and TV series that are only available in streaming apps now.
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Or you can watch movies and shows via the "community theater." The same wonderful community that provides "demos" of games.


sfsuphysics said:
Arr-har! What be this streaming apps you speak of? Me maties and I would rather get scurvy than need multiple apps to watch all the fine entertainment choices thar be!
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This guy knows wassup.


Zarathustra[H] said:
A few years ago before we bought our house, when applying to rent an apartment we were required to use a special app to apply. It wasn't negotiable. If you wanted the apartment, you had to use the app. You bet it was collecting data.
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Dude, no fucking way. Are you fucking serious?! You HAD to use the app?! I can't even wrap my head around that.


Westwood said:
Car's a 2005.
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Mine's a 1999, and what I enjoy most about it is that it is NOT drive-by-wire. No fake-ass digital computer-based steering, brakes, or throttle. My car uses a throttle cable. When I press the brake pedal, it actually squeezes the brake fluid instead of telling a computer to do that (and I can feel what the calipers and rotors are doing through the brake pedal). When I move the steering wheel, it physically moves the front wheels rather than telling a computer to do it (and I can feel what's going on with the front wheels and the road surface through the steering wheel). My car has a tape deck in it, which I actually do use to play music from my phone using an adapter (or to hear GPS voice directions through the car speakers). I don't even have ABS or traction control. My car is as simple as you can get. The fanciest thing about my car is power locks and windows.


Pitchshifter said:
I don't use social media and don't need any stupid apps.
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I have never ever used a social media anything in my entire life, and that will never change. As for phone apps, I do use some. I use an authenticator app for 2FA for most of my accounts. If I'm on my way to visit family and one of them asks me to bring a pizza from Domino's or something when I've already left my house, I have two choices: try to order through the web browser on my phone, or use the app. The app works waaaaaaay better in that scenario. I rarely carry a laptop with me, so the phone becomes a way to check shit and respond to people while I'm out of the house (email, Steam messages/management, Discord messages, do PayPal stuff ,etc). I also use Waze, that shit is very handy, and a great complement to having a radar detector. I use Google Maps for navigation. Got an app to use my VPN service on my phone too. That said, I rarely use my phone for anything besides phone calls and text messaging. I usually keep the GPS off, and only turn it on when I need to use Google Maps or Waze.


UnknownSouljer said:
I don't use ridesharing at all.
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Same. I've used it maybe 3 times, and I never paid for it in any of those situations. A couple times were when I was in a group of friends and we were all coming back drunk from the bar. Another was I was going to visit a friend and my car was not driveable at the time, so they sent a Lyft to pick me up.


Westwood said:
If it wasn't for my kid, I wouldn't have a phone at all.
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Doesn't that seem kinda dangerous? What if there's an emergency of some kind?


ElementDave said:
I've seen that with (e.g.) parking garages for public transit systems that now require an app.
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Sheesh. This is getting ridiculous.
 
DrezKill said:
Mine's a 1999, and what I enjoy most about it is that it is NOT drive-by-wire. No fake-ass digital computer-based steering, brakes, or throttle. My car uses a throttle cable. When I press the brake pedal, it actually squeezes the brake fluid instead of telling a computer to do that (and I can feel what the calipers and rotors are doing through the brake pedal). When I move the steering wheel, it physically moves the front wheels rather than telling a computer to do it (and I can feel what's going on with the front wheels and the road surface through the steering wheel). My car has a tape deck in it, which I actually do use to play music from my phone using an adapter (or to hear GPS voice directions through the car speakers). I don't even have ABS or traction control. My car is as simple as you can get. The fanciest thing about my car is power locks and windows.
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Yea, its sounds sort of like the dad wagon. The traction control is hilarious. On tire spins, the ABS kicks on, and applies the breaks to the spinning tire. so the whole car cocks off to the side in the snow.
 
Pitchshifter said:
No, we aren't - and Im well familiar with this desperate tactic of trying to spin anonymous online discussion forums as "social media".
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Who exactly is desperate? I don't see any desperation anywhere. Depending on one's definition of social media, it could easily be argued that forums falls under the broad category of social media (e.g. Websters online definition, Cambridge dictionary).

Just because no one is taking goofy videos on Tiktok or limiting themselves to 280 characters doesn't mean it isn't "social media" in some form.

But if you disagree, it's ok. I'm not going to lose sleep over it, nor is Westwood . No desperation...
 
kirbyrj said:
Depending on one's definition of social media, it could easily be argued that forums falls under the broad category of social media (e.g. Websters online definition, Cambridge dictionary).
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Yup, could be argued either way. That said I think a more commonly accepted definition of social media is one where the primary focus is you broadcasting information about yourself to anyone you let see it whether it be your life directly, things that happened to you, or the way you think about a particular subject. While the last bit may apply a bit here it really depends on what level you push it to, e.g. "That's a damn good price for a 3080" versus "Oh look another woke moment by Hollywood"
 
Pitchshifter said:
No, we aren't - and Im well familiar with this desperate tactic of trying to spin anonymous online discussion forums as "social media".
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Welcome to [H] and this wonderful network of social interactions! I did make sure i clicked "LIKE" on your post! Helpin you out to improve your reaction score!

I don't go to strip bars, i go to gentlemen's clubs!
 
scottypippin said:
"journey ads"? i'm paying for this ride already, why?

thankfully, I usually set up a ride and "fire and forget" and just be there on time so I'm not looking at my phone or checking my emails often enough to worry. but I guess this is another algorithm to mess with....time to start booking trips to the holocaust museum on a weekly basis.
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isn't the answer obvious? people are money loving fools that do not care how they get it.

Never will use Uber or Lyft or any other cab service that is not a legitimate cab company
 
Your lost.

I only use Uber because of the security features. Lyft does not offer it yet. If they did I would use Lyft instead mostly. Sense you can wait 10 minutes to 60 minutes to save a lot.


Without this feature we had people in Las Vegas try to steal our Uber ride once. lol. It was so funny.
 
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