Uber - You are the Product, Personal Data for Sale?

Uber’s growth rate slowed to 2.3% in the fourth quarter over the last quarter, its annual loss of more than $3 billion is worrisome. 

Ahead of the largest U.S. public stock listing since 2014, Uber executives have cautioned IPO investors that losses could grow amid bitter competition from rivals. Uber priced its public offering on Thursday at $45 a share, near the bottom of its expected price range, valuing the ride-hailing company at about $82.4 billion. 

There is justified doubt that the company will ever be profitable and the expectation is that the share price will tank after listing, unless UBER becomes the next Facebook. 

Digging out of a $3 billion hole will not be solved simply by finding more Uber passengers.  There is no evidence that the core ride-hailing business will ever be profitable, so where will the next billion dollars coming from? 

Uber will need to tap it's successful data collection on who uses it and how they use it and where they go, just like Facebook selling your data “can become highly profitable” 

The problem is that Uber has a fraught history with data collection. It has used geolocation data to spy on customers and journalists, deceive regulators and recruit drivers away from competitors. The company paid $148 million in a U.S. settlement last year over the cover-up of a 2016 data breach, and the terms included a revamp of Uber’s data security practices. 

As with Facebook, there is a possibility that you will soon become "the product" with UBER selling your personal data for profit. Where you go, where you live, where you work, where you exercise, where you shop, might soon be up for sale to any bidder.   

#UBER #UberIPO #DataPrivacy #UberLosses