Uber might not be able to totally shut down fentanyl-transporting drivers or the drivers who are getting oral sex during trips, but it looks like one of their most invasive features—which involves tracking users whereabouts post-trip—is going to be removed in an upcoming update.
The feature, which was incorporated into the Uber app in November 2016, was activated when users asked if they wanted to be always tracked or never tracked. There's been no option to only have your device tracked during your trip. Declining to be tracked meant that users would have to enter in every one of their pick-up and drop-off locations, instead of that information being stored, which sounds like a decent trade-off, but you can imagine how crappy the overall user experience became.
As TechCrunchreports, a number of problems arose from this new feature, from employees stalking their exes and celebrities to reporters being spied on. For a company that already has issues with public perception, this feature was a nightmare that they are just now coming around to rectifying.
The update that will allow users to only share data while using the app is going to be pushed to iPhones this week, with Android app users reportedly set to get it in the near future.
