UBER
Workers of the platforms Uber, Uber Eats, Smood…,
PersonalData.IO and Hestia.ai offer a permanent digital skills for the retrieval and analysis of personal data every Thursday from 10am to 4pm Lausanne, or by appointment, (at the Powerhouse: Place de la Gare 10, 1003 Lausanne) and in Geneva (see the opening hours at https://digipower.academy/uber/).
It’s about taking very concrete possession of your personal data collected by platforms: check what information a company like Uber gives you, master your working conditions, pay and benefits calculations.
Have you already retrieved your data and want to analyze it? If so, please contact contact@personaldata.io.
For those who have not yet obtained their data, the procedure for doing so for Uber can be found below. For other companies, the procedure can be found on this link : Data recovery.
Uber provides (limited) access to data on the mobile app and website in four different ways that we describe below.
Please note that regardless of the method by which you attempt to retrieve your data, it is important to document any interaction with Uber and any interaction with the app (e.g. notification of a promotion, change of multiplier) in any way (e.g. by taking screenshots or retaining your emails from Uber).
The types of data recovered by each of these methods may be different. Therefore, we recommend that you take the time to send an email (e-mail) using our letter template (Method 1 below). A data access letter model was developed by Personaldata.io and HestiaLabs based on direct work experiences with drivers requesting their data from Uber. The letter is designed to specifically ask for data that Uber has proven to collect but is reluctant to share.
Method 1) Quick: Uber’s mobile apps data portal
You can also request your data via the Uber mobile app. Again, the data received by this approach may not be as complete as that obtained by the standard letter.
1. Go to the menu when you are logged in.e on the Uber app
2. Click on “Security and Privacy”
3. Ask for a copy of your data in the “drivers and delivery” tab. You must enter your email address or phone number. If you enter your phone number, make sure you’re able to receive a text message containing an Uber code. Please contact us as soon as you receive a copy of your data.
Method 2) Submit a privacy request via Uber’s form
This more specific method allows you to submit a request for information by following the link below :
Method 3) Data portal of the Uber website
You can request a download of your data via this web form (shown in this video). However, they may be less complete than those you will receive using our online form, so it is recommended not to use this option alone. Downloading your data may take a few days and you will receive it by email. These data can be downloaded below for analysis.
We recommend that you do not log in to your account before submitting the form. If you do not receive a confirmation email, it is likely that you completed the form while you were logged in to your driver account. That’s not bad in itself, but you don’t have any proof that Uber has received your request, and it will be harder for you to complain if that happens.
Another possibility is that you are looking for this email in the wrong place. It is not located in the driver area of the app, but in your regular email client, at the email address you provided when you made your request.
Method 4) Payment statements, tax documents, bank information
Uber allows drivers to access summaries of their payment statements, tax documents, and banking information on drivers.uber.com. A description of these summaries can be found here, and it’s similar to the summaries you can access from the Uber app on your phone. This type of data lacks many finer details that can be found using our e-mail form.
How to connect
You will first need to enter your phone number or email address; in both cases, you will need access to text messaging.
Then enter the 4-digit code that was sent to you.
Third, enter your password.
High-Level Summary of Links and Revenue
Breakdown of summaries by journey
Oh, wait ! There is information about my trips in the app that is not on drivers.uber.com.
Yes! The following data for each journey is available in the app but not online:
- Price of the race
- Dynamic pricing
- Service charges
- Taxes on service charges
- Points earned
Further information is available on the app for each trip:
- Duration
- Type of vehicle
- Time of order
- Date of order
- Your income
The best way to capture them is to take screenshots or save your screen when you scroll through your trip history.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How long does it take to receive my data?
According to the GDPR, the CNIL explains that:
“The person in charge of the file must answer:
- As soon as possible.
- At the latest, within one month.
The person in charge of the bank may extend this period by two months (three months in total):
- If your request is “complex”. For example, as part of an application for right of access, he must provide you with a large number of documents that require their removal from the archives.
- Provided that you are informed within one month.
Please note : in all cases, you must receive an answer within one month.”
I got my data back. What’s next?
Congratulations ! Follow this link to usage tools developed with our HestiaLabs partners to explore what your data can show you.
You should see this screen :
Place the zipped data files you have in this box by dragging them or clicking on “browse files” and selecting them.
Then click on ‘Explore Your Data’.
Please note that none of your data is shared with Personaldata.io, HestiaLabs, or Uber – all scans are done on your computer.
You can then click on these tabs to explore your data :
‘Driver Data’ to visualize the places you have visited as a driver. The ‘Trips’ tab contains information about the trips you have made, such as their duration and their starting and ending points. If you’re also using Uber as a passenger, you can use Rider Data to explore the trips you’ve made.
I still don’t know how to ask for my data. What am I supposed to do?
This video contains more detailed instructions.
If you still have problems, do not hesitate to contact us directly at the following address:
What questions can be answered with the recovered data?
Here are a few examples:
- Visualizations of routes in London. Collection points (green) and drop-off points (red)
- Journeys
- Speed (yellow = fast, red = slow)
- GPS traces left during an attack
- Distribution algorithm Where was the driver at the time of receipt of the journey (You can see that Uber likes drivers on the London Bridge!)
- Inefficiency, due to the distance between dispatching points and support
- Indication of the type of data collected, even outside the working period
- The process of requesting access to data of data subjects (it is far from easy)
I found a simpler way to request my data, and it doesn’t require sending an email !
It is true that Uber has an official procedure for requesting such data. Those who use it receive the data after a few days (or even a few hours), but it only covers the last week!
Uber claims that this is all that most drivers are interested in… So it’s best to make your request really explicit by sending the emails above. However, if you wish to use Uber’s procedures as an alternative or additional method, the instructions are described below.
I am interested in a more technical explanation of how Personaldata.IO organizes the knowledge of the data.
A more in-depth explanation using Uber data as an example can be found on our forum.