9 ms·

This really doesn't match up with how the conversation/outrage is playing out on Twitter right now. People seem to be interpreting this as "Uber continues to tr

by hsod 9y ago

This really doesn't match up with how the conversation/outrage is playing out on Twitter right now. People seem to be interpreting this as "Uber continues to track your location after you have deleted the app," when what really happened seemed to be "If you delete Uber and then reinstall it on the same phone, Uber knows that it's the same phone." See for example this Tweet, with hundreds of retweets and lots of verified replies: https://twitter.com/dnvolz/status/856166875511894016 https://twitter.com/dnvolz/status/856166875511894016 "This is like a holy trinity of privacy disaster: 1) secret tracking that 2) persists after users delete app 3) in knowing violation of rules"

pdog 9y ago
"A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." C.H. Spurgeon, Gems from Spurgeon (1859)
- parthdesai 9y ago
  Well Churchill, of all people would know it pretty well.
tyingq 9y ago
That's true, but there's a bit of live by the sword, die by the sword here. Uber is no stranger to the power of propaganda with their campaigns on the sharing economy, unions, regulations, etc.
- smokeyj 9y ago
  Because we all expect journalistic integrity from Uber. Uber provides a service people need. Journalism is blogspam garbage.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - clample 9y ago
    You think that Uber is a service that people need? This sounds like exactly the kind of company that should be held to a high standard.
    - smokeyj 9y ago
      But how do you judge uber if you can't trust journalistic integrity? The very people you trust to think for you are unqualified - which leads me to believe so is your opinion. This seems to be the problem with Fake News.
      - aceperry 9y ago
        Is there a specific journalistic integrity issue going on with this article?
        beedogs 9y ago
        Nope. He's just being a contrarian clown.
      - clample 9y ago
        You're not addressing what I'm saying. What I said has nothing to do with journalism
    - stagbeetle 9y ago
      If we were to judge companies solely through a moral lense, sure. But in the direct interest of capitalism, and indirectly consumers, it's terrible to restrict important businesses.
      - florean 9y ago
        Important businesses are the ones that need restrictions the most. "Too big to fail" doesn't work, for society or consumers.
oculusthrift 9y ago
jesus. that guy is a reuters "reporter" as well. stuff like this is what encourages the concept of 'fake news'
- woogiewonka 9y ago
  The concept of fake news Rose from one guy making shit up for ad money. The whole ordeal about how fake news is this sinister plot to disinform is a disinformation effort in itself. There's a big difference about reporting while being misinformed vs disinforming or to harness views.
  - oculusthrift 9y ago
    what i'm saying is that people doing misinformed reporting causes people to not trust the news at all. and let's cynical people (trump) label all journalism as fake news
    - woogiewonka 9y ago
      I think it takes a certain kind of individual to trust everything they read at face value without getting multiple points of view on an issue and researching their own facts. Not saying we shouldn't hold reporters accountable to higher standards but we live in a time where everything is rushed and pumped out as "content' for ad revenue.
tedivm 9y ago
Uber was tracking people after they left their rides, and it's unsure if they ever stopped. http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/01/503985473/uber-now-tracks-passengers-locations-even-after-theyre-dropped-off http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/01/503...
- hsod 9y ago
  OK, but that's different from tracking people after they've deleted the app.
  - vlozko 9y ago
    I'm genuinely curious how that would even work on the technical level. As an app developer, I'm not making the connection here as to how iOS would even allow that. Edit: Read up a bit more on it. Turns out it was the practice of fingerprinting and tracking after re-installs, not after an uninstall. TechCrunch provided a better technical description: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-that-it-tracked-users-who-deleted-its-app/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-th...
    - stingrae 9y ago
      To me it seems like this is mischaracterized to make it sound worse than it is. Can someone explain why people are making a big deal about this practice?
      - pm90 9y ago
        Its because its fashionable to beat the horse that Uber is a terrible company led by a terrible man. I personally am no fan of Uber or Travis, but I do get disgusted sometimes when the media hypes certain perceptions to an inappropriate degree. So for all means continue to investigate the seemingly terrible and anti-women culture and the fraudulent stealing of Technology from Google. But like you said, don't mischaracterize other facts to make them sound more terrible than what they really are.
      - 9y ago
aeturnum 9y ago
One of the risks of refusing to talk about services is that you're at the mercy of games of telephone. People describe what you're doing to journalists who carefully dilute anecdotes and details to obscure their exact source. Then you don't comment directly on the system because it's a secret, and here you are. The problem for Uber is that they /are/ scummy. They proudly bend every possible rule to their advantage. It's easy to believe the worst about them.

by hsod 9y ago

pdog 9y ago

"A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." C.H. Spurgeon, Gems from Spurgeon (1859)

parthdesai 9y ago
Well Churchill, of all people would know it pretty well.

tyingq 9y ago

That's true, but there's a bit of live by the sword, die by the sword here. Uber is no stranger to the power of propaganda with their campaigns on the sharing economy, unions, regulations, etc.

smokeyj 9y ago
Because we all expect journalistic integrity from Uber. Uber provides a service people need. Journalism is blogspam garbage.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- clample 9y ago
  You think that Uber is a service that people need? This sounds like exactly the kind of company that should be held to a high standard.
  - smokeyj 9y ago
    But how do you judge uber if you can't trust journalistic integrity? The very people you trust to think for you are unqualified - which leads me to believe so is your opinion. This seems to be the problem with Fake News.
    - aceperry 9y ago
      Is there a specific journalistic integrity issue going on with this article?
      - beedogs 9y ago
        Nope. He's just being a contrarian clown.
    - clample 9y ago
      You're not addressing what I'm saying. What I said has nothing to do with journalism
  - stagbeetle 9y ago
    If we were to judge companies solely through a moral lense, sure. But in the direct interest of capitalism, and indirectly consumers, it's terrible to restrict important businesses.
    - florean 9y ago
      Important businesses are the ones that need restrictions the most. "Too big to fail" doesn't work, for society or consumers.

oculusthrift 9y ago

jesus. that guy is a reuters "reporter" as well. stuff like this is what encourages the concept of 'fake news'

woogiewonka 9y ago
The concept of fake news Rose from one guy making shit up for ad money. The whole ordeal about how fake news is this sinister plot to disinform is a disinformation effort in itself. There's a big difference about reporting while being misinformed vs disinforming or to harness views.
- oculusthrift 9y ago
  what i'm saying is that people doing misinformed reporting causes people to not trust the news at all. and let's cynical people (trump) label all journalism as fake news
  - woogiewonka 9y ago
    I think it takes a certain kind of individual to trust everything they read at face value without getting multiple points of view on an issue and researching their own facts. Not saying we shouldn't hold reporters accountable to higher standards but we live in a time where everything is rushed and pumped out as "content' for ad revenue.

tedivm 9y ago

Uber was tracking people after they left their rides, and it's unsure if they ever stopped. http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/01/503985473/uber-now-tracks-passengers-locations-even-after-theyre-dropped-off http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/01/503...

hsod 9y ago
OK, but that's different from tracking people after they've deleted the app.
- vlozko 9y ago
  I'm genuinely curious how that would even work on the technical level. As an app developer, I'm not making the connection here as to how iOS would even allow that. Edit: Read up a bit more on it. Turns out it was the practice of fingerprinting and tracking after re-installs, not after an uninstall. TechCrunch provided a better technical description: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-that-it-tracked-users-who-deleted-its-app/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-th...
  - stingrae 9y ago
    To me it seems like this is mischaracterized to make it sound worse than it is. Can someone explain why people are making a big deal about this practice?
    - pm90 9y ago
      Its because its fashionable to beat the horse that Uber is a terrible company led by a terrible man. I personally am no fan of Uber or Travis, but I do get disgusted sometimes when the media hypes certain perceptions to an inappropriate degree. So for all means continue to investigate the seemingly terrible and anti-women culture and the fraudulent stealing of Technology from Google. But like you said, don't mischaracterize other facts to make them sound more terrible than what they really are.
    - 9y ago

aeturnum 9y ago

One of the risks of refusing to talk about services is that you're at the mercy of games of telephone. People describe what you're doing to journalists who carefully dilute anecdotes and details to obscure their exact source. Then you don't comment directly on the system because it's a secret, and here you are. The problem for Uber is that they /are/ scummy. They proudly bend every possible rule to their advantage. It's easy to believe the worst about them.