Data collection policy prompts privacy concerns.

• Position: PRIVACY

On July 15, Uber's new policy overhauling its customer data collection practice took effect, prompting a complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

Uber's new policy allows it to collect detailed information about its users and their contacts and to approximate customer locations based on nearby networks, even if users opt out of location sharing. The changes also allow Uber to store user data long-term and to send ads to customers' contacts without notification.

According to Legaltech News, one of the risks associated with the updated policies includes Uber's ability to collect information about when a customer's home will be unoccupied. This information also could be used to triangulate the details of users' private lives, making them possible targets of social engineering attempts.

The San Francisco-based company is no stranger to criticism over its collection of customer data, and EPIC has asked the Federal Trade Commission to bar certain provisions of Uber's updated policy. But, Legaltech News said, "the proverbial genie of private information collection has long been out of the bottle and new efforts from Uber are more a sign of things to come than an onerous harbinger of privacy abuse."

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