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Quite a sensationalist headline. Basically what this article is saying is that Uber have all of this info on where you came from, where you are going and that w

Quite a sensationalist headline. Basically what this article is saying is that Uber have all of this info on where you came from, where you are going and that we should not trust them because they do not have processes in place to ensure users information on trips taken is kept private. While I do not disagree with the amount of data that Uber have, a company like Facebook and Google arguably know more about us than we do ourselves. Why should we distrust Uber more than any other company? However, I STRONGLY believe that companies with data like Uber should be held accountable to very high standards and any breach of privacy of said data would result in severe penalties. This is not just an Uber problem, this is a big data problem and one many companies have. I recently quit using Uber in favour of other services like Lyft because I do not believe in Uber's lack of ethics and the way they do business. However, I don't think it is fair they are being targeted as much by the media as they currently are. As much as I dislike Uber, I don't think it is fair to single them out as some lone wolf operating in the wild big data wilderness. We need to be reasonable and stick to the facts, not speculation. This article really tells us nothing, gives us no true reason other than a single incident (as far as I am aware of) of a privacy breach of a journalists trip to the Uber offices for an interview. There have been other reported incidents of data breaches, but without conclusive evidence, it could just be hearsay. I am not saying that there is not an issue with companies like Uber and improper practices with data. I am also not denying that Uber have not had incidents where data has been viewed by employees or other reasons, however I am saying there is a lot of false reporting going on at the moment. We need to remain reasonable and non-objective, let the truth and facts speak for themselves. Lets not hate on a company just because everyone else is. As this article points out, this is not specifically an Uber problem, and as such, I think the title is an inaccurate and deliberate click-bait attempt to get more viewers.

ccvannorman 12y ago
> I do not believe in Uber's lack of ethics and the way they do business THIS. They've done so much bullshit that I flat out refuse to use them. Is there a compiled list of all their wrongdoings somewhere? I'd love to refer my friends to it..
smacktoward 12y ago
> While I do not disagree with the amount of data that Uber have, a company like Facebook and Google arguably know more about us than we do ourselves. Why should we distrust Uber more than any other company? I believe the point of the article was that we should not distrust Uber more than any other company; we should distrust them all equally, i.e. assume they are all misusing or failing to secure our personal data until an audit by a trusted third party (an "information fiduciary") can prove otherwise. > However, I do believe that companies with data like Uber should be held accountable to very high standards and any breach of privacy of said data would result in severe penalties. This is not just an Uber problem, this is a big data problem and one many companies have. The problem is that there is no incentive for the companies to treat customer data responsibly, while there are substantial commercial incentives for them to misuse it, or at best to reduce the amount they spend on securing it to the absolute minimum possible that they can get away with. And since users are poorly informed and have little power, these incentives will continue to be misaligned until third parties exist with the market or legal muscle to create negative incentives around misusing information strong enough to outweigh the positive ones.
- DigitalSea 12y ago
  >I believe the point of the article was that we should not distrust Uber more than any other company If that was their point, then the title they selected, "We Can't Trust Uber" does a pretty poor job at explaining that consumers should distrust companies like Uber, Google and Facebook equally. The title insinuates and singles out Uber solely, but then the article does mention other companies like Facebook and the power and data that they have. Seems the title was for click-bait purposes. There definitely needs to be some kind of change on a regulatory level. I agree, the problem is these companies lack incentives to be responsible and treat data like a bank protecting its consumers money (a poor analogy given the GFC and all, but still).
wavefunction 12y ago
Targeted? One of their executives publicly threatened a member of the media. Who was also a customer. Again and again their "leadership" makes unethical or morally questionable decisions that impact their customers, their employees and society FOR MONEY. I'm also not exactly a genius but I can at least remember "never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel." Certainly we shouldn't trust Google (or other corps) any more than we trust Uber, but I don't see why we can't distrust all of them equally. I don't have any sympathy for Uber.
vertex-four 12y ago
You seem to be arguing that this isn't the article that you'd like it to be, not that the headline or article is incorrect. You'd like an article on the regulatory environment around Big Data, and this is merely an example of one specific thing one specific Big Data company can do (and has done and is doing). That doesn't make the article invalid. In fact, this is exactly the sort of article that needs to exist when there isn't a regulatory environment to protect the people - when people have to calculate their interactions with each individual company to ensure it's not going to bite their ass later, they need to know which individual companies are capable of doing what.
ProAm 12y ago
> While I do not disagree with the amount of data that Uber have, a company like Facebook and Google arguably know more about us than we do ourselves. Why should we distrust Uber more than any other company? Facebook and Google give you a product/service for free in exchange for this data, we PAY uber for a service and should be treated differently because of that fact alone.
Animats 12y ago
Uber have all of this info on where you came from, where you are going and that we should not trust them because they do not have processes in place to ensure users information on trips taken is kept private. Sadly, the same can be said for Google, Apple, AT&T, and Verizon. At least one of those probably knows where you are right now.

ccvannorman 12y ago

> I do not believe in Uber's lack of ethics and the way they do business THIS. They've done so much bullshit that I flat out refuse to use them. Is there a compiled list of all their wrongdoings somewhere? I'd love to refer my friends to it..

smacktoward 12y ago

> While I do not disagree with the amount of data that Uber have, a company like Facebook and Google arguably know more about us than we do ourselves. Why should we distrust Uber more than any other company? I believe the point of the article was that we should not distrust Uber more than any other company; we should distrust them all equally, i.e. assume they are all misusing or failing to secure our personal data until an audit by a trusted third party (an "information fiduciary") can prove otherwise. > However, I do believe that companies with data like Uber should be held accountable to very high standards and any breach of privacy of said data would result in severe penalties. This is not just an Uber problem, this is a big data problem and one many companies have. The problem is that there is no incentive for the companies to treat customer data responsibly, while there are substantial commercial incentives for them to misuse it, or at best to reduce the amount they spend on securing it to the absolute minimum possible that they can get away with. And since users are poorly informed and have little power, these incentives will continue to be misaligned until third parties exist with the market or legal muscle to create negative incentives around misusing information strong enough to outweigh the positive ones.

DigitalSea 12y ago
>I believe the point of the article was that we should not distrust Uber more than any other company If that was their point, then the title they selected, "We Can't Trust Uber" does a pretty poor job at explaining that consumers should distrust companies like Uber, Google and Facebook equally. The title insinuates and singles out Uber solely, but then the article does mention other companies like Facebook and the power and data that they have. Seems the title was for click-bait purposes. There definitely needs to be some kind of change on a regulatory level. I agree, the problem is these companies lack incentives to be responsible and treat data like a bank protecting its consumers money (a poor analogy given the GFC and all, but still).

wavefunction 12y ago

Targeted? One of their executives publicly threatened a member of the media. Who was also a customer. Again and again their "leadership" makes unethical or morally questionable decisions that impact their customers, their employees and society FOR MONEY. I'm also not exactly a genius but I can at least remember "never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel." Certainly we shouldn't trust Google (or other corps) any more than we trust Uber, but I don't see why we can't distrust all of them equally. I don't have any sympathy for Uber.

vertex-four 12y ago

You seem to be arguing that this isn't the article that you'd like it to be, not that the headline or article is incorrect. You'd like an article on the regulatory environment around Big Data, and this is merely an example of one specific thing one specific Big Data company can do (and has done and is doing). That doesn't make the article invalid. In fact, this is exactly the sort of article that needs to exist when there isn't a regulatory environment to protect the people - when people have to calculate their interactions with each individual company to ensure it's not going to bite their ass later, they need to know which individual companies are capable of doing what.

ProAm 12y ago

> While I do not disagree with the amount of data that Uber have, a company like Facebook and Google arguably know more about us than we do ourselves. Why should we distrust Uber more than any other company? Facebook and Google give you a product/service for free in exchange for this data, we PAY uber for a service and should be treated differently because of that fact alone.

Animats 12y ago

Uber have all of this info on where you came from, where you are going and that we should not trust them because they do not have processes in place to ensure users information on trips taken is kept private. Sadly, the same can be said for Google, Apple, AT&T, and Verizon. At least one of those probably knows where you are right now.