Posted in: Mobile software

Uber has announced that an upcoming update to its privacy policies will allow the company to ask for access to a rider’s location when the app is running in the background, a move the ride-sharing startup claims will “get people on their way more quickly.”

In addition, the changes – which will come into effect starting July 15 – will also allow Uber to ask for access to your contacts data, something which the company says will enable it to “send special offers to riders’ friends or family.”

However, both background location-tracking as well as contact-sharing will be opt-in. ” In either case, users will be in control: they will be able to choose whether to share the data with Uber,” the company said in a blog post.

The change in privacy policies comes nearly six months after Uber hired a team of privacy experts, including former IBM Chief Privacy Officer Harriet Pearson, to conduct a thorough review of its data privacy program.

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