Privacy group wants FTC to investigate Uber

A privacy rights group plans to file a complaint on June 22 against Uber at the Federal Trade Commission over the ride-hailing service's new policy that gives it the right to track users even if they're not currently using the Uber app. The new privacy policy is scheduled to go into effect on July 15. Uber announced it on May 28.

In the complaint, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington (DC) cites several privacy issues with the new policy it finds troubling. Under the upcoming policy, the Uber app could collect precise location data about a customer's smart phone, even when the app is running in the background or they have turned off their GPS location finder. If the app isn't on, Uber can figure out the user's approximate location from their Internet address. If the user permits it, the Uber app can access the user's address book and use the names and contact information it finds there. EPIC's complaint says "this collection of user's information far exceeds what customers expect from the transportation service. Users would not expect the company to collect location information when customers are not actively using the app."