Unroll.me Is Partially To Blame For Uber’s Latest Violation Of Privacy

All day long everyone has been outraged with Uber for secretly "identifying and tagging" users who deleted the app from their iPhones. This disturbing information was revealed in a profile published by the New York Times on Uber's chief executive, Travis Kalanick. What many have failed to notice in the report is the tidbit about how Unroll.me, a website which allows people to unsubscribe from multiple email listservs for free, has been selling subscribers' information to advertisers. The Intercept explains how Uber has been purchasing data from Slice Intelligence, an analytics service that owns Unroll.me.

In response to the issue, Unroll.me CEO and co-founder, Jojo Hedaya, posted a statement about improving the company's transparency in a blog post titled “We Can Do Better." Going forward, Hedaya has promised to enforce "clearer messaging" on the site, app, FAQS, and "on-boarding process" about data usage. He also claims that the company has never released personal date about its users and that "all data is completely anonymous and related to purchases only."

So, in addition to rereading the Terms and Agreements for every single service that you sign up for going forward, remember to be extra cautious about giving an outside source access to your email account. You can't be too careful these days, especially with hackers and trolls lurking in every window and tab in sight. 

For more tips on how to outsmart Unroll.me, peruse these guides on Wired and Lifehacker.