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They also know the model of device you have, its retail price, and possibly what cellular carrier you have. They've also got your e-mail address, which has som

They also know the model of device you have, its retail price, and possibly what cellular carrier you have. They've also got your e-mail address, which has some predictive value for income. And access to your contacts, which likely includes the names / e-mail addresses / mailing addresses / phone numbers of people with which you interact. If you have an entry for yourself with your address, they can probably know your home's value and whether or not you're listed as an owner. With enough cross-referencing between users, I imagine they could get a reasonably good guess.

dwighttk 9y ago
how do they get access to your contacts? why do they get access to your contacts? why do people give them access to their contacts?
- gruez 9y ago
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubercab https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubercab This app has access to: [...] Contacts * find accounts on the device * read your contacts
  - dwighttk 9y ago
    But why?
    - rory 9y ago
      I'm pretty sure it's used to assist with selecting other accounts for fare splits, so that could be one justification.
      - dwighttk 9y ago
        ah... didn't think of that one... Clearly not an Uber user here. At least there's a possibly helpful reason to do it.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- moduspol 9y ago
  I'm on iOS and signed up for Uber long before the privacy scandals went mainstream. iOS would have required that I be prompted for access to contacts, but I don't remember what the justification was. I do know it knows where "Home" and "Work" are without me explicitly telling it. I assumed I'd be able to type in the name of a contact and it'd resolve that to the contact's address I have listed (an actual valid use case), but I just tried that and it didn't work. So I don't know OTOH what valid justification they have for using it. I do see if you go to invite friends (for "free rides"), it allows you to connect contacts to send codes to. I don't think that's how I got prompted, though.

dwighttk 9y ago

how do they get access to your contacts? why do they get access to your contacts? why do people give them access to their contacts?

gruez 9y ago
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubercab https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubercab This app has access to: [...] Contacts * find accounts on the device * read your contacts
- dwighttk 9y ago
  But why?
  - rory 9y ago
    I'm pretty sure it's used to assist with selecting other accounts for fare splits, so that could be one justification.
    - dwighttk 9y ago
      ah... didn't think of that one... Clearly not an Uber user here. At least there's a possibly helpful reason to do it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
moduspol 9y ago
I'm on iOS and signed up for Uber long before the privacy scandals went mainstream. iOS would have required that I be prompted for access to contacts, but I don't remember what the justification was. I do know it knows where "Home" and "Work" are without me explicitly telling it. I assumed I'd be able to type in the name of a contact and it'd resolve that to the contact's address I have listed (an actual valid use case), but I just tried that and it didn't work. So I don't know OTOH what valid justification they have for using it. I do see if you go to invite friends (for "free rides"), it allows you to connect contacts to send codes to. I don't think that's how I got prompted, though.